


For the Republic

by Ditto_22



Series: All Stars Burn as One [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Battle of Cathar, F/M, Found Family, Gen, Gray Jedi, Jedi Culture, Jedi Culture Respected, Mandalorian Supercommandos, Multi, Order 66, Protective clones, clone culture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-02-23 12:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 64,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23711161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ditto_22/pseuds/Ditto_22
Summary: Kisar was one of the most loyal Jedi there was to the Code, but after an attack to her Initiate clan left her stranded in Hutt Space, she was forced to become a criminal to survive. When the Republic and Separatist war reaches her, Kisar is made a Jedi again and assigned to Master Kenobi and the 212th Attack Battalion. Old habits of her criminal past will not die easily and Kisar clashes with plenty of her fellow Jedi and with the clones she serves with. However, Kisar’s unorthodox methods prove to be her greatest strength in the long run.
Relationships: 212th Attack Battalion & CC-2224 | Cody, 212th Attack Battalion & Original Character(s), Ahsoka Tano & Original Character(s), CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody & Original Character(s), CC-2224 | Cody/Original Female Character(s), Mace Windu & Original Character(s)
Series: All Stars Burn as One [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707715
Comments: 100
Kudos: 90





	1. Chapter 1

24 Years Before the Battle of Yavin and 976 Years After the Ruusan Reformation

Kisar was a Jedi Initiate who resided in the Jedi's main temple on Coruscant. Every Initiate was assigned to a clan based on an attribute or skill that the Initiates had. The Dragon Clan was made up of Initiates who were chosen because of their perceived tenacity. Kisar considered herself lucky to be able to be eligible for this clan. Dragon Clan was known for producing great Jedi Guardians who never let any obstacle break their spirit. They were protectors and warriors and Kisar planned to join their ranks once she became a fully fledged Jedi Knight. She just had to acquire a lightsaber crystal from the planet Ilum first with her clan and a Jedi escort.

The Jedi escort that was assigned to her clan was the battle-hardened Jedi Master known as Inan Hosep. Master Hosep had partaken in many battles and skirmishes. He had saved entire planetary systems by expelling unwanted intruders with his combat abilities. He was also an alumni of the Dragon Clan and was open about his desire to select a Padawan from the Dragon Clan to train. Kisar and the rest of her clan were all excitably lobbying for that position. After all, Master Hosep was a legend in the Jedi Order and the Republic at large, who wouldn't want to be his Padawan?

Most Initiates trained extra hard while they were preparing to embark to Ilum. Kisar was amongst them and was more than confident in her status as the toughest and most persistent Initiate in the current Dragon Clan. Kisar was of the feline sentient species known as Cathar. They originated from a planet with the same name and were passionate warriors with a strict honor system. Their hand to hand combat skills were unparalleled in the known galaxy. Cathar also were stronger and faster than most humanoids and gifted with a quick healing ability.

Unfortunately, the Cathar's prowess in war was what cost them dearly thousands of years ago. When the Mandalorian Empire was terrorizing the galaxy and taking planet after planet to increase its size, the Cathar did not bend to the will of the Mandalorians and fought back. They defeated and expelled the Mandalorian invasion the first time, but the Mandalorians came back under the leadership of a man named Cassus Fett. Fett was an observant and keen warrior who recognized that the Cathar would not be overtaken by the same means as every other planet they invaded. The Cathar were far too wild and uncontrollable to conquer. Cassus instead decided to commit a mass genocide on the Cathar people. Almost all of the Cathar race were wiped out. Cathar women were raped in front of their fathers and husbands. Cathar children were mercilessly slaughtered in front of their mothers. Pregnant Cathar women had their litter cut out of their bellies to be strewn across the ground. The Cathar species took over three thousand years to regain its population.

That was why Kisar was proud of her heritage and abilities. Her people were so powerful that the fearsome Mandalorians at their peak could not conquer her ancestors. While many in the galaxy pitied the Cathar, and with good reason, the Cathar considered it to be a testament to their strength. The surviving Cathar of the genocide would claim that Cassus Fett massacred their people out of a fear of their combat abilities. Fett knew that they could not face the Cathar warriors head on even in a surprise attack, so instead he killed off the families in order to break the spirit of the Cathar warriors before finally finishing them off. Cathar only mated once which made the surviving population have a harder time of repopulating and recovering from their desolation.

Kisar strove to be just as much of a warrior as her people were known to be. While she did not remember her family, Kisar hoped that they remembered her and were proud of her. Recently, she had been having nightmares of the ancient massacre of her ancestors. She saw through the eyes of survivors as they escaped the Mandalorian invaders who hunted them and slit their throats while they slept. She witnessed countless rapes and murders. For the eight year old youngling that Kisar was, it was more than traumatizing for her mind. She asked her Crèche Masters for guidance on several occasions but their advice was unhelpful. Her tenacity to get to the bottom of her nightmares visions eventually got the attention of the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, Master Yoda.

Master Yoda paid extra close attention to Kisar's retelling of what she had seen every time she closed her eyes to sleep. They were so vivid to the point that Kisar worried that an ancient Mandalorian warrior would slit her throat whenever she would lay in bed to rest or dropped her guard to meditate. Master Yoda had her lower the fledgeling Force shields of her mind so that he could personally take a look at what she was seeing. Judging by the troubled look on the kind Grandmaster's face, he saw everything she saw. According to Master Yoda, he would take it up with the Jedi Council on what to do with her frightening visions. In the meantime, Kisar was to travel with her clan to Ilum in order to find a lightsaber crystal.

Kisar just hoped that a change of scenery would put an end to her problematic nightmares.

****

They had just left the atmosphere of Coruscant when Master Hosep picked up an incoming ship on their own ship's scanners. The middle-aged Weequay male had a frown on his face while he tried to hail the unknown ship to determine what was going on.

The ship did not respond. It simply came closer and closer. Its path now directly focused on the Jedi vessel. There was no longer a possibility of the ship being a passerby. It was following them. Hunting them.

An image of the Mandalorians doing the same briefly came into Kisar's mind before she stubbornly forced it out. Now was not the time to be distracted by the past. No Jedi would let their mind be clouded by mere visions in a time of potential danger. Kisar cleared her mind of the past and focused her thoughts on the future. She wanted to assist Master Hosep in any way she could. She wanted to prove herself as a reliable future Padawan.

One of her clanmates beat her to it.

"Master Hosep, maybe we should alert the Jedi Temple of what is happening? Perhaps they could assist us?" It was Lera Yat, a Duros girl who was disarmingly charming and terrifyingly sharp. Kisar could forgive herself for not being quicker than Lera. She doubted even a Jedi Master's mind worked faster and more efficiently than Lera's.

Master Hosep gave a tired sigh and ceased trying to hail the incoming ship. He turned and gave Lera a pat on the head and congratulated her on her idea. He even went as far as to ask Lera to be the one to contact the Jedi Temple and inform them of their current situation. Kisar could almost hear the internal jealous screaming that her fellow Initiates were doing inside of their heads at Lera's opportunity.

Kisar would've been doing the same internal screaming as the rest of her clan if wasn't for the fact that she noticed that Master Hosep used Lera's assistance in order to step away from the console and check the ship's escape pods and weapons. It was clear to Kisar that Master Hosep was preparing himself for the worst case scenario. He had seen a lot in his life and must've known a bad situation when he saw it. Kisar could only guess that Master Hosep was thinking that there would be a turn for the worst soon. A shiver went down her spine at the thought, if Master Hosep was concerned and preparing himself, a Jedi youngling such as herself should be in full blown panic mode.

Sensing her anxiety levels rising, Master Hosep looked over at Kisar and did his best to give a comforting smile. "Be at ease, young one. I will protect all of you till my last dying breath."

Kisar could tell that Master Hosep was trying to be nice but his words were less than comforting. The last thing Kisar wanted to do was be responsible for Master Hosep's death. She also did not like the fact that Master Hosep was not reassuring her and telling her that everything was under control and they were in no danger. Master Hosep was instead telling her that he would protect them all.

Kisar remembered a word that the elder Padawans used that Initiates would try to use in order to sound grown up. It was the word "kriff." Most adult Jedi would not use a word as it was far too inappropriate leaving Padawans and particularly naughty Initiates to be the ones who regularly swore in the Jedi Order. Kisar herself never used it as she wanted to leave a good impression on the Knights and Masters of the Jedi Order so that they would pick her as a Padawan in the future. One of those Masters was standing before her now trying to be comforting and all Kisar could think of was how truly kriffed Dragon Clan was if Master Hosep was gearing up for a fight without any backup with a ship that had an unknown amount of potential enemies inside of it.

Suddenly, as if in response to Kisar's rising stress levels, Lera's voice rang throughout the ship as she called back to Master Hosep, "Master! Something is preventing us from contacting the Jedi Temple! I think the ship behind us has jammed our communications!"

That does it. Kisar didn't care about the opinion of Master Hosep at the moment. She only cared about not being attacked and having her day ruined or permanently cut short through a violent death. Most Jedi didn't make it to old age for a reason after all.

She was about to voice her concerns and displeasure to Master Hosep when the Weequay beat her to it.

"We are so kriffed."

As if on cue to his exclamation, their ship have a lurch as the strange vessel attached to it. Kisar sucked in a breath as one of the entrance hatches began to open. Master Hosep immediately stepped in front of Kisar and the doorway to where the rest of the Initiates remained. The seasoned warrior drew his lightsaber in a menacing hum. Master Hosep had a special lightsaber that almost looked like it was on fire. Those few who fought against him and lived nicknamed it, the "Republic's Flame." It comforted Kisar to see such a powerful weapon being welded by such a powerful warrior. Master Hosep swore he would protect her, after all, and with that lightsaber, he could defeat almost any foe.

The hatch finally opened and Kisar resisted the urge to throw up at the sight that greeted her and Master Hosep. A large armored being stepped through the entrance while keeping his weapon carefully trained on Master Hosep. Kisar audibly whimpered as she recognized the familiar visor of a Mandalorian warrior. That same helmet design had haunted her dreams for weeks, and now it was in front of her in the present reality. The visions she had made so much sense now, she was being warned about this event through past events. Kisar had never been so terrified in her entire life.

Master Hosep, to his credit, did not externally react to the intimidating opponent before him. He merely addressed the figure before them, "Tell me, stranger, are you a friend or foe?"

The Mandalorian tilted his helmet almost as if he were truly wondering if he was there to harm or help the Jedi before him. Kisar waiter anxiously for him to reply, he would be less frightening if he were to speak. Then it would be easier to remember that there was a man behind that scary armor, instead of a nightmarish ghost of the past that Kisar had been witnessing every time she closed her eyes. She tried to calm herself down by comparing the armor of the past Mandalorians with this Mandalorian. This Mandalorian did not wear beskar and was not in the classic crusader armor style worn by the ancient Mandalorians that invaded Cathar. Instead, he wore lighter green body armor with tactical pants. He was likely a bounty hunter instead of a true full-time Mando warrior of old. He was extremely close to what Kisar saw in her nightmares, but she could find differences between the two. It also helped that Master Hosep was protecting her in reality. The Cathar never had Jedi protection in her visions.

Her observations were interrupted by the deep accented voice of the Mando, "All Jedi are my enemies. I broke free from your chains of slavery and I remember the atrocities you committed against Mandalore in the Battle of Galidraan."

Master Hosep's eyes widened and his calm and ready battle stance turned into nervous and shocked body language. Kisar has heard rumors about Galidraan but none of the elder Jedi gave the younger generation any answers about what happened. All Kisar knew was that a great tragedy occurred and that the Jedi were tricked into doing something terrible.

The Mandalorian continued, "You almost wiped out the True Mandalorians that day, but one survived. He was my progenitor, Jango Fett. You, Inan Hosep, were one of the Jedi who killed Mando'ade in Galidraan. I am here to to avenge the blood wrongfully spilt at Galidraan. You will die just as all Jedi should die, at the hands of a Mando."


	2. Chapter 2

Master Hosep was visibly disturbed by this information, "Mando, if you truly are here to try and kill me, let the younglings take escape pods planetside. I do not want them to be hurt in our ensuing fight. I know your people value children and the next generation, I ask you to value these children as well, even if they are not Mandalorians."

Kisar couldn't believe what Master Hosep was saying. She had seen Mandalorians kill children in her visions countless times. This plea was a useless one. This Mando already expressed his hatred for Jedi, what difference would it make whether or not the Jedi are children or not? However, perhaps if she could convince Spar that he would gain nothing but trouble from the Jedi Order from killing Dragon Clan, he might listen to that.

As if in response to her thoughts, the Mandalorian named Spar repeated his previous statement, "All Jedi are my enemies."

Kisar found herself pleading to the warrior before her before she could stop herself, "Please, sir! We do not even have lightsabers yet! We are not warriors or peacekeepers. We are barely even Jedi right now! Master Hosep is a capable warrior and you will get your fight from him! Let us go!"

Master Hosep shot Kisar a chastising look over his shoulder. Jedi do not beg and give into desperation unless it is to protect civilians. As a Jedi she should have been ready to die for the Republic and join the force. She was already messing up in front of Master Hosep. He would surely pick Lera if they survived this ordeal. He would survive, of course, but Kisar and her clanmates did not have his skills. If Spar were to truly go after them as targets, they would undoubtably perish.

Unfortunately, Master Hosep was not the only one looking at Kisar now. Spar's helmet had shifted ever so slightly to the left so he could look at Kisar behind the protective barrier Master Hosep formed himself to be. Kisar could feel his penetrating gaze assessing her. She shivered when his visor lowered to her booted feet and slowly rose as he looked over her person. When his visor finally stopped it's ascension, Kisar knew he was looking her in the eyes now from behind that horrifyingly familiar helmet. Somehow she sensed that he became interested in her after his assessment. He probably had never seen a Cathar before, and Cathar Jedi were not a very commonly seen occurrence. Kisar had a dual history with the Mandalorians, both as a Jedi and as a Cathar. Spar maybe saw her as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

"The other younglings may leave, but the Cathar girl stays." Spar spoke with a finality and authority as if Master Hosep was his underling instead of a fearsome adversary. Kisar could tell that Master Hosep did not appreciate this tone of voice and demeanor. Pride was a dangerous thing for a Jedi to have, but Kisar felt that Master Hosep, being as great as he was, had a valid excuse for being a proud man.

The Weequay Jedi moved his lightsaber in a lightning fast maneuver that even Kisar could not fully comprehend with her heightened senses in the Force. The "Republic's Flame" now rested a forearm's length away from the Mandalorian's neck.

"Spar, I said all of the younglings!"

Kisar sucked in a breath and waited in anticipation for Spar's response. She internally screamed for Spar to regain some honor and let all of Dragon Clan go. She wanted to be as far away from this wannabe crusader as possible.

Spar did not seemed bothered by the lightsaber dangerously close to his throat. In fact, Kisar could swear she sensed amusement from the Mandalorian. Master Hosep seemed to not intimidate Spar at all. One of the most active and combat experienced Jedi Guardians in the Jedi Order was one wrong move away from slicing Spar into little Mando bits, yet the man seemed to find this funny. Kisar felt her nauseous insides worsen. Either Spar had a hidden card up his sleeve to back his confidence or he was plain crazy.....or perhaps both.

Suddenly, a clicking sound rang through the air as Kisar heard what sounded like a timer start to count down. When she confusedly looked around the room to see what was making that sound, her eyes landed on Spar and widened in fear. Spar had activated some kind of grenade and was staring Master Hosep down in an apparent power move. Neither warrior said anything as the timer steadily counted down. They both seemed to be waiting for the other to break. Kisar had no idea why Spar did what he did. A grenade would kill him alongside the Jedi in the room, why would he activate it then?

After what seemed like an eternity, Master Hosep deactivated his lightsaber. The larger than life Weequay Jedi Master looked tired and old in front of the obviously smug Mandalorian before him.

"I will acquiesce to your terms, Mando." Kisar wanted to cry at that statement. She was to be left with Master Hosep and Spar, a Mandalorian warrior insane enough to activate a grenade and just stand there. Why couldn't her visions simply have just been nightmares? Kisar could only guess that she would end up as her ancestors did, slaughtered like an animal.

***

Kisar helplessly watched her clanmates climb into the ship's escape pods. Most of them turned back to her and gave her a regretful look full of sorrow and some tried to give her a comforting smile before hopping into the escape pod. Kisar felt as though she were attending her own funeral with how her clanmates were acting towards her. She couldn't blame them of course, her odds of survival were low. She didn't doubt that Master Hosep would come out victorious, but she did doubt that she would not end up as collateral damage during the fight. A stray blaster bolt from Spar could kill her. Master Hosep could even accidentally kill her by swinging his lightsaber and missing its intended Mandalorian target.

Perhaps that was why Spar wanted her to stay, so that she would be a distraction for Master Hosep.

With that dreadful thought occupying her mind, Kisar turned back to Master Hosep, and consequently, also to Spar. Both were watching Kisar and her reaction to the escape pod as it finally detached and began its descent to the surface of Coruscant. Dragon Clan would survive, but Kisar would likely not.

"Are you finally ready to die, _Jetiise_?" Spar drawled, clearly annoyed and impatient for the fight to start. Kisar could only imagine what happened at the Battle of Galidraan for Spar to be this vengeful towards Jedi and especially towards the Jedi who took part in the battle. Apparently his father, Jango Fett, was the only survivor and all of the Mandalorians were killed. Kisar felt smug at that realization. It's not fun being on the other end of a genocide is it, Mando?

Kisar horrifyingly stopped that train of thought as well as lack of empathy. She knew what it felt like to be bombarded with the plight of your ancestors.

Master Hosep sighed and drew his lightsaber. The flaming design of his blade seemed to match its wielder and was significantly dulled down in intensity. The fight had left Master Hosep.

"I was just following orders, you know. The Jedi did not mean to wipe out the True Mandalorians. We were tricked by Death Watch. I have innocent blood on my hands because of that mistake. I always knew my past would catch up with me, but I never dreamed it would happen like this."

Kisar frowned in confusion. Master Hosep made a mistake? The Jedi Order made a mistake? She could barely believe it even after the Jedi Master confessed his sins to his opponent who was seeking retribution.

"I'll make it quick, Hosep. I'll make it even more quick for the kid too." Spar seemed to accept Master Hosep's confession and offered him a relatively painless death as a sign of respect between warriors.

"Why did you even demand the child remain?" Master Hosep questioned warily.

"She's a Cathar, I'm a Mandalorian. Let's just say I'm a traditionalist at heart. And besides, maybe I'll let her live and take her in as my own. Who knows how dangerous a force-sensitive in Beskar'gam could be?"

Kisar could tell the last part was meant to rile up Master Hosep but she also couldn't help but wonder why Spar would want to kill her even with his traditionalist claims. There was nothing to be gained from her death, no honor, no conquest, and no money. Even if he did want to adopt her, which Kisar doubted, a Cathar Mandalorian was unheard of for various reasons, she would fight his will her entire life. She would not belong to him or Mandalore, even if it cost her own life.

Kisar would conduct the same actions her ancestors did when captured by the Mandalorians. The Cathar captives decided they would rather die on their own terms than serve the Mando cause. Even the Cathar cubs, who were chosen to be Mandalorian foundlings, joined the suicide pact. The Mandalorians had no living Cathar under their control after every single member of the Cathar race in their prisons and orphanages were found dead through various suicidal measures. Even the mothers who were imprisoned with their children chose to kill their own children and then themselves to avoid any Cathar joining the Mandalorian Creed.

The Mandalorians learned to either take no prisoners or to sell their war captives off quickly into slavery for another people. The suicide pact did not apply to other sentient races and cultures, after all.

Kisar would do her best to stay out of the way for Master Hosep to combat with Spar without any interruptions. If Master Hosep were occupied with keeping Kisar safe, Spar could get the upper hand and kill him. She would have to remain out of sight and out of mind for Master Hosep's sake. The experienced Master seemed to need every advantage he could get right now. Kisar noticed how he seemed resigned and exhausted. All Spar had to do was mention Galidraan and all of the sudden Master Hosep seemed to age another 40 years. While Kisar had the utmost certainty in the Weequay Jedi Master's abilities at the beginning of this entire situation, the slump in his form started to give her doubt on whether he would emerge triumphant in this duel.

Spar must have decided that he waited long enough for Master Hosep to prepare because he drew out his dual blasters and began to fire upon the Jedi in rapid succession. The Jedi Master expertly deflected these blaster bolts and began to move forward in an offensive. The Mandalorian responded to this offensive by activating the flamethrowers that were situated upon his arm braces. While most trained Jedi, such as Master Hosep, could defend themselves adequately against blaster fire, flamethrowers were notoriously effective at getting through a Jedi's defense.

Kisar watched with bated breath as Master Hosep had to duck behind a wall of the ship in order to avoid being roasted alive. She had immediately hidden herself by the ship's navigation computer but couldn't help but poke her head out to see the fight occur between the two deadly warriors. Master Hosep found a way to no longer be pinned by Spar's flamethrower attack after he forced pushed Spar into a nearby wall and charged towards the Mando.

Once Master Hosep stepped close enough, Spar drew two vibroblades out and attacked the Jedi. Kisar couldn't believe it! The Jedi were unmatched in their close-quarters combat skills because of their lightsaber weapons training. Mandalorians were good at all types of combat, of course, but they did not specialize in lightsaber dueling as Jedi did. Spar may have not been using a lightsaber, but he was wielding the two long vibroblades with deadly skill. Master Hosep's exhaustion and lack of fighting spirit became more and more apparent as their fight wore on. Kisar was seriously getting worried for the Jedi Master. Spar appeared to have the upper hand now and was increasing the aggressiveness of his attacks.

Kisar had to do something and quick. She was a member of Dragon Clan just as Master Hosep was and Dragon Clan members look out for each other. The Cathar Initiate began to desperately search for anything to distract or attack Spar with. The modest little Jedi shuttle was devoid of conventional weaponry so Kisar just had to be creative. Her eyes searched for any broken glass or shrapnel caused by the two warriors fighting. Exposed fuel lines caught her eye and Kisar would have squealed with glee if it wouldn't ruin her plans. Fuel plus fire meant big trouble for anyone close and Spar already revealed that he had a flamethrower. She just had to cover him in the fluid without him knowing and get him to activate his flamethrowers.

Kisar was not a naturally mean-spirited person but with how thoroughly Spar had managed to ruin her day, she had no trouble hurling insults in his direction.

"Hey, Buckethead! You are such a coward that Neimoidians laugh at you! If only you were as good as Jango Fett in knife combat, this would have been a much shorter fight then!"

That definitely got Spar's attention. The Mandalorian turnt towards her with an audible growl emitting through his helmet. Kisar even went so far as to stick her tongue out at him like the eight year old she was.

Master Hosep was already injured by Spar's attack through two devastating blows from the vibroblades, but he still managed to weakly grab his opponents legs in an attempt to stop him from attacking Kisar. The Initiate almost audibly groaned in frustration. She was trying to help Master Hosep. Couldn't he see that? Spar might not move towards her now and that would ruin her plan.

Master Yoda's voice popped into her head in a memory from training, "Change, plans tend to."

If Spar would not come to the fuel, Kisar would just have to bring the fuel to Spar.

Her Force abilities have always been strong, but Kisar was still only a child and she would need to use a lot of concentration for what she was about to attempt to do. While Spar was occupied with prying the injured Jedi Master's grip from his legs, Kisar focused on the exposed fuel lines and traced them through the force to an area directly above Spar. It was also consequently directly above Master Hosep. Kisar hesitated in what she was about to do, could she seriously pull through with setting Master Hosep on fire in order to defeat Spar?

Her doubt was projected so powerfully through the force that even Master Hosep in his injured state could sense them. He could also sense Kisar's plan through her thoughts and glances to the area above both him and Spar. Without any pause after realizing his own life would end, Master Hosep made eye contact with the young Initiate and nodded his head solemnly in permission for her to go through with the plan.

Kisar felt a tear slip down her furry cheek as she used a basic Force-pull technique to pour fuel all over Spar and Master Hosep. Spar only had moments to register this and turn his attention to Kisar before Master Hosep sped up the burning process by activating his famous flaming lightsaber directly into the fuel puddle they both were on top of.

Both men were set ablaze with the fire and screamed in pain. Kisar covered her sensitive ears but the terrible shrieks still invaded her senses. She backed away in instinctive fear from the horrifying sight of the two inflamed men but her eyes could not look away in her shock. Master Hosep had went still almost immediately even though Kisar could still sense that he was clinging to life, if only for a little longer. Spar, however, was thrashing around in a panic as the flames devoured his armor and flesh. His partial Mandalorian armor seemed to be both a blessing and a curse to the man as it both preserved his life but prolonged his pain. The Mandalorian finally gained back enough clarity to hobble over to the hatch his ship was attached to. Kisar watched in a nauseated daze as the man slowly made his way back onto his ship and closed the hatch.

Master Hosep sacrificed himself for nothing.

Kisar felt a deep fatigue fill her body and she slumped against the navigation computer and flight controls. The beeps of the ship's autopilot mode activating fell on deaf ears as the Jedi Initiate succumbed to sleep, completely alone.

**********

Translations

_Jetiise:_ plural form of Jedi


	3. Chapter 3

22 Years Before the Battle of Yavin and 978 Years After the Ruusan Reformation

Kisar knew that she was screwed the moment she recognized Jedi Knight Obi-wan Kenobi in the crowds of Nar Shadaa. His distinctive Jedi robes made him stick out like a soar thumb in the infamous "Smuggler's Moon." Jedi just didn't come to Nar Shadaa, not unless they had no other choice.

It had been two years since Kisar was marooned in Hutt Space after the Jedi shuttle randomly set in coordinates and entered hyperspace. Kisar was too young and inexperienced as a Jedi to understand how to fly a shuttle so she could only wait and see if the ship would run into a sun or planet on accident through the random coordinates. It was the low fuel that eventually stopped the ship before it could hit anything. Kisar had used up a lot of fuel to repel the Mandalorian Spar from the Jedi shuttle. It was a miracle in itself that she even made it as far as Hutt Space.

For days, Kisar was stuck in a ship with no fuel in the middle of no where. Everywhere around her was so dark. Space seemed so terrifying when she was floating in its abyss instead of actively flying. Kisar even swore that she saw monsters through the windows of the shuttle. The beings had skeletal appearances and haunting eyes. They would merely hover outside and watch her as she watched them. Kisar was too afraid to look away so she was locked in a stare-down with these creatures for hours on end until they would disappear. They always came back though and the terror would return.

When smugglers happened upon the Jedi shuttle, Kisar was too relieved to notice their greedy stares upon her Jedi robes. She did not notice how Master Hosep's lightsaber was no longer by his burnt corpse. She did not even notice how sacred parts of the ancient Jedi shuttle were stripped away. Kisar's jubilation of seeing other sentients blinded her to the warning signs and obvious crimes being done in front of her.

This almost cost Kisar her freedom. When the smugglers landed on Nar Shadaa, it was their last stop before Kisar would be brought before the Hutt Council as an exchange for the smugglers being forgiven for a misdeed of theirs. They may have been cruel and selfish, but luckily for Kisar, the smugglers were not intelligent. When they stopped on Nar Shadaa, they only left one smuggler to "keep her company" and that smuggler immediately took it upon herself to get drunk and fall asleep. Kisar snuck out of the ship and was faced with the daunting view of Nar Shadaa's criminal underworld.

For weeks, Kisar struggled to survive off of scraps she found in trash bins outside of seedy diners. She almost was caught by slavers several times. Cathar females were one of the most desired slaves on the market. If any slavers caught wind of Kisar being Force-sensitive, she would have become an even greater target.

She was eventually found by a group of former Cathar slaves who congregated in an apartment complex in order to avoid being picked off one by one by slavers and bounty hunters. The leader of the group was Zoruk. Zoruk was a former gladiator slave whose fights served as entertainment for the crime lords of Nar Shadaa. He eventually broke free from his chains and escaped to freedom. Countless bounty hunters came after Zoruk, but none survived the wrath of the legendary gladiator. Zoruk owned a diner called "Kiltik Steakhouse" in order to support the Cathar under his care in the apartment complex.

While Kisar was helping find groceries with some other Cathar, Obi-wan Kenobi of the Jedi Order was sashaying down the middle of the open street as if he weren't very obviously a Jedi. No part of Nar Shadaa was friendly to Jedi and Master Kenobi should have already been attacked by some enterprising bounty hunters looking for a well-paying catch or kill. For some reason, Master Kenobi was largely being left alone save for the gawking stares of bystanders. Master Kenobi must have had a large amount of luck in his favor to combat his lack of survival skills then. Kisar could relate, Zoruk often complained of how many bad situations the young Cathar girl found herself in. Kisar was usually just as good at getting herself out of the situations fortunately.

Master Kenobi appeared to be currently trailed by some identical men in smuggler's clothing. They all had tan skin and black hair. Nar Shadaa was a place with enough diversity in its species where these men would not stick out at all even with their indistinguishable features. However, Kisar took note of how they walked with a certain purpose, almost like a march that she would see Republic troopers do in parades on Coruscant. It occurred to Kisar that these men probably were Republic troopers, though she had never seen a species that had identical features within the Republic ranks before. The Republic must have recruited from some relatively unknown near-human planet.

Master Kenobi, even with his entourage of soldiers, was not safe on Nar Shadaa. Kisar had to give him shelter with Zoruk.

She called out to her Cathar companions to wait for her as she went down to the main street area to warn Master Kenobi. She may no longer be a Jedi but Kisar still had respect for the Jedi Order. The whole galaxy constantly called for their aid and spread their ranks thin yet complained when the Jedi were not efficient enough. Kisar considered herself one of the loyal few who saw the Jedi in a positive light.

The Cathar girl gracefully leapt down into an alleyway before walking out into the street. She had to get closer to Kenobi and warn him. One of the soldiers right behind Master Kenobi suddenly snapped his head to look right at Kisar. His dark eyes narrowed as he appraised her to see if she was a threat. The girl cursed, how had the man noticed her so quickly? Perhaps he was Force-sensitive as well?

Seeing as she was already noticed by one of the men, Kisar no longer used any discretion as she boldly walked up to Master Kenobi. Now all of the soldiers had their attention fixed upon Kisar but Master Kenobi still remained seemingly unaware. He was either intensely focusing on something or he was as observant as a Miralukan in force-binders. Kisar really hoped that it was the first option.

"Master Kenobi! You're not safe here! You must follow me to safety." There. That sounded urgent enough. Hopefully, Master Kenobi will decide to not be a sitting duck anymore.

The Jedi Knight jumped in shock at seeing the youngling before him. His blue eyes were wide with curiosity as he looked her over. Kisar knew she no longer looked like a Jedi and Master Kenobi did not know her well enough to be able to recognize her on sight anyways. So she instead used her fledgling knowledge of the Force in order to reach out to Master Kenobi's force shields and tentatively brushed against them. It was a trick she learned from one of her Crèche Masters. She was told that that was an old Jedi method of knocking on someone's mental doors to let them know she was Force-sensitive too.

True to what her Crèche Master taught her, Master Kenobi visibly startled before brushing against her much weaker mental shields in an affirmative reply. Kisar sighed in relief before gesturing for Master Kenobi and his men to follow her.

Master Kenobi called after her, "Wait! Youngling! Where are we going?"

Kisar didn't turn back. They had to get out of the main area and reach the safer back alleyways before anyone would try to attack Master Kenobi and his men. With practiced ease, the Cathar child weaved through the crowds and stepped over sludge and garbage on her way to reunite with her group.

When Kisar turned back to see if Master Kenobi was following, she was met with the sight of the Republic troopers following her instead. Kisar abruptly stopped.

"Where is Master Kenobi?!"

The man in front, the one who spotted her first, responded, "He's guarding the rear, kid."

She grunted in displeasure but continued her ascent to her Cathar friends. They all had exasperated looks upon their furred faces as they waited for her to meet them at the top. Kisar understood their frustration, she seemed to always find a way to get herself into trouble. Zoruk himself had to personally rescue her plenty of times.

She just had to trust that Master Kenobi truly was guarding the rear and that he would be guided to safety.

When she finally reached the top of the building, Alorum, one of the Cathar adults assigned to look after Kisar, lowered his bushy eyebrows in obvious annoyance. He grunted and tilted his head in question towards the identical Republic soldiers trailing after her. Kisar shrugged and gave an innocent smile to him. Alorum, who had seen this innocent smile far too many times after Kisar just did something incredibly stupid, facepalmed and groaned in frustration. That smile always was followed by a troublesome situation.

The elder Cathar reluctantly helped the disguised soldiers up the building while muttering, "Zoruk is gonna 'ave a field day wit' this one."

As most of the Cathar under Zoruk's leadership had been slaves in Hutt Space for generations, their knowledge of Catharese, the native language of Cathar, was limited if not nonexistent, most spoke in Huttese or Basic to each other. Kisar had picked up Huttese quickly on Nar Shadaa and even began to speak it more fluently than Galactic Basic, her first language.

" _Dobrah chuba koochoo._ " Kisar hissed back to Alorum as she finally spotted Master Kenobi at the back of the group. He was guarding the rear just as the creepily observant soldier stated.

" _Jee-jee neeja yatuka ateema!_ " Krisha, a former dancing girl, shouted as a group of armed bounty hunters made their way around the block towards their location. They were gaining ground quickly and their sights were obviously set on Master Kenobi, who made things easier for them as he was undeniably in Jedi robes.

The scary soldier turned to her once he too spotted the bounty hunters and heard Krisha's cry. "What did she say?"

Kisar responded by grabbing his arm and dragging the apparently very heavy and very muscular man as best as she could into the safe path back to Zoruk's apartment, "She said that we have to move! I told Master Kenobi it isn't safe!"

The soldier acknowledged her reply by giving an ominous grumble and whipping out a military grade blaster to point back at the bounty hunters. Kisar heard Alorum whistle in appreciation at the sight of the advanced weaponry behind her. The man was prone to violence and could hold his own in almost any fight. Alorum's knack for utterly destroying anything or anyone that was in his way was what caused Zoruk to assign him as Kisar's babysitter in the first place. Kisar may have been able to attract trouble like a magnet, but Alorum was just as able to permanently get rid of that trouble.

As they ran, Kisar spotted the familiar outline of Zoruk's apartment. Zoruk had probably been commed already by Krisha or Alorum on their situation. They just had to reach the apartment complex and then Zoruk would have enough reason to kill the bounty hunters if they followed them onto his property. Nar Shadaa was a lawless place, but people still liked to pretend that there were decent rules put in place by the ruling gangsters. Killing could be retaliated against by the families, friends, and employers of the victims unless that victim attacked someone on their own property, then the murder was pardoned.

Zoruk had already taken it upon himself to be just outside the apartment's entrance with some of his warriors in order to "properly greet my guests" as he liked to say. The Cathar gladiator was an intimidating sight with his hulking figure and his fur that was dyed blood red in war paint. Kisar felt a wild grin grow on her face at the sight of ensured protection. No one faced Zoruk and lived to tell the tale.

The Cathar leader, to his credit, did not outwardly react to the sight of Kisar having strange indistinguishable men and a Jedi Knight following her. He simply stepped enough to the side for the group to safely enter the building and let him deal with their pursuers. The sound of blaster fire and the pained cries of the bounty hunters was audible even after the doors of the apartment's entrance were shut.

Everyone took a moment to catch their breath. Alorum was also taking the moment of relative silence to stare down Kisar in disapproval. The cub was unapologetic in return and met the fearsome Cathar male's stare head on. The two would have probably continued this face off for much longer if it wasn't for Krisha smacking them with her agile tail and yelling at them to go up to the common meeting area so the rest of the apartment could know what was going on. Everyone followed her through the multiple connected hallways and up the stairs until they reached what looked like a former restaurant for the apartment's patrons. Zoruk used this retired restaurant area to practice cooking new dishes for his own working diner. This area was also used as a common hang-out and meeting location.

Once they arrived, Master Kenobi quietly instructed his soldiers to get comfortable and try to contact someone named Ahsoka. Kisar guessed that Ahsoka was also a Jedi and hoped it meant that she and her Cathar friends could be taken away from the criminal nest they unwillingly called home.

When Zoruk and his men finally returned from their fight with the bounty hunters, the Cathar leader gave an exasperated glance towards Kisar as the girl huffed in embarrassment, her species' version of blushing. She wasn't even the one waltzing through Nar Shadaa in Jedi robes in the first place. For once, it wasn't her fault.

Zoruk's baritone voice filled the common area as he purposely strode towards Master Kenobi, "Why has a Jedi and some Republic soldiers come to Nar Shadaa of all places?"

Master Kenobi raised his hands in a placative gesture, "My men and I were following a lead on a Jedi-killer known as Bort Gling. He evaded Republic authorities and was tracked to Nar Shadaa. I was merely acting as bait in order to capture Gling, but after I discovered this force-sensitive youngling, my priorities changed."

Master Kenobi turned towards Kisar, "How did you know my name, young one?"

His voice was gentle and marked by a soothing Coruscanti accent. Kisar knew this was her chance at getting off Nar Shadaa so she eagerly responded to his questioning.

"My name is Kisar, Master Kenobi. I was a Jedi Initiate from the Dragon Clan," Master Kenobi's eyes lit up in recognition, "When Dragon Clan was supposed to go to Ilum with Master Hosep we were boarded by a strange ship. We were then attacked by a Mandalorian named Spar and Jedi Master Hosep sacrificed himself in order to save me. The other younglings were allowed to safely enter escape pods and return to Coruscant while I was accidentally transported to Hutt Space. I remembered seeing you with your Padawan once in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, Master Kenobi, and that is how I recognized you."

Master Kenobi breathed out long and hard at that information and lifted his hand to his face in order to stroke his beard in concentration. "You are the last surviving youngling of Dragon Clan then."

Kisar's elation at seeing another Jedi abruptly stopped, what did Master Kenobi mean by last surviving youngling? Her clanmates were allowed to enter escape pods and go back to Coruscant. She was the one in mortal danger, not them.

She had to know, "Master Kenobi, my clanmates are still alive....right?"

The Jedi Knight looked sorrowful as he tenderly placed a hand upon her shoulder in a comforting touch. His bearded face was pulled tight in a frown as he gazed down at the Jedi youngling before him. The Jedi Order thought Dragon Clan was completely wiped out and yet a survivor stood in front of him and even tried to save his life earlier that day.

"Kisar, they were shot down not long after their pods were ejected. The Jedi Temple received a message stating that Dragon Clan's pods had just got out of range from a communications blocker from an enemy ship. Unfortunately, the pods were shortly destroyed by the same ship they described as the one belonging to the Mandalorian attacker. I am sorry to say that you are the last member of Dragon Clan, youngling."

Kisar sucked in a breath in shock. All these years, she had been comforted by the fact that her clan was still in the Jedi Temple living a good life, and now she had been told that her comfort was based off of a lie. It seemed that Spar, even in his severely burned state, took the time to shoot the defenseless escape pods full of Initiates down. Kisar had to take a moment to calm her mind but vengeful thoughts still invaded her conscious. Over and over again the same mantra replayed in her brain.

Spar had to pay.

***************

Translations

 _Dobrah chuba koochoo:_ I already know this.

 _Jee-jee neeja yatuka ateema!:_ We need to move!


	4. Chapter 4

As Zoruk and Master Kenobi argued with each other about what to do with the Bort Gling situation, Kisar got acquainted with the Republic soldiers. The scary one was named Cody and he was apparently a Commander in the Republic Army. There were two particularly close soldiers named Waxer and Boil who were just as interested in her as she was in them.

Boil, as Kisar quickly found out, was unapologetically blunt in his questioning of her life story. "So you're like a Jedi cadet then? And now you're some sort of street rat?"

Kisar couldn't help but laugh at that inquiry and laughed even harder after Waxer walloped Boil with the back of his hand, "Thank you very little, Boil!"

After wiping an amused tear from her eye, Kisar responded, "I was stranded in Hutt Space and eventually was kidnapped by smugglers. I escaped them when they made a stop on Nar Shadaa. I have been stranded here ever since." She paused for a moment to add, "and being a criminal is the only way anyone can survive here. There are no lawful or truly good people in Nar Shadaa, only survivors."

It was something Zoruk instilled in Kisar ever since she was found by him. She was half-starved and terrified at the time and when she saw another Cathar walking down the alleyway, she latched onto him without thinking. Fortunately, this particular Cathar was friendly unlike most residents of Nar Shadaa and took her in. While Zoruk was carrying her weak body to his apartment complex, he gravely whispered that important lesson to her. His words have guided her for the last two years.

"Little cub, you got lucky today. I could have been someone who would have hurt you. Remember this, even the friendliest people in Nar Shadaa are amongst the most reprehensible criminals in the galaxy. There are no good people here, only survivors. And you, you are a survivor, I can tell already."

The scary one, Commander Cody, was still staring her down and assessing her. His gaze was frighteningly intelligent and far too observant. Kisar felt as though he could see right through her. Finally, he spoke, "Did you hear about the war?"

Kisar nodded glumly, her previous amusement vanished, "It's all over the news here. But our news has never been reliable or comprehensible. All we know is that the Republic is at war with the Separatists. Have you all been in battle already?"

The assembled group of soldiers nodded in unison. Kisar heard Alorum snort in amusement from behind her at the sight. She made a sympathetic noise in her throat, "Your mothers must be so worried for you."

The mood drastically changed after she said that. Even Master Kenobi stopped his discussion with Zoruk to look back at them. The Jedi Knight's eyebrows were furrowed in a worried expression. Kisar immediately felt as though she said something wrong. Were the mothers of these soldiers all dead?

It was Cody who responded to her statement, "We...don't have mothers. My brothers and I are all clones. We were bred to be soldiers for the Republic."

Now all of the Cathar who were present stiffened. They were all slaves at one point and were "bred" as well. They recognized right away that the clones had no choice, just like them. Zoruk and a few adults even audibly growled at Cody's answer.

The Cathar leader towered over Kenobi as he hissed lowly, "I am not in the habit of welcoming slavers in my home, Jedi. Explain yourself!"

The Jedi Knight looked confused as he glanced back at Kisar questioningly. The Cathar girl shrugged her shoulders unhelpfully. When Zoruk got this mad, nothing really could calm him down except time to cool down.

Master Kenobi collected himself before answering calmly, "The Jedi did not know that the clones were being created for us. We happened upon their home planet of Kamino by accident only to find out that the clones were being mass produced and trained for an upcoming war that a rogue Jedi had foreseen. The Republic Senate voted to use these clone soldiers for the Republic cause as we had no other military force big enough to fight the large quantities of battle droids. It's an unfortunate situation and the Jedi Council is planning to find ways to free the clone troopers after the war. We are not slavers and we are trying to fix this mess even with this force-forsaken war going on."

Zoruk didn't verbally respond. He simply continued to glare at Kenobi with his teeth bared in a snarl. Kisar decided that now was the time to calm things down to the best of her ability. She slowly rose to her feet so that Zoruk would not be startled and accidentally attack her. Kisar took deliberate yet careful steps towards Zoruk and Master Kenobi. The two were still locked in a stare down and paid no attention to her but that did not deter Kisar. She was a member of Dragon Clan no matter what, and members of Dragon Clan were never deterred by anything they set their mind to.

She spoke with confidence in the face of Zoruk's potential wrath, "Master Kenobi, I understand your plight and while I have trouble agreeing with it, you are not a slaver in the sense that Zoruk is implying," said Cathar jerked in shock, "however, we can help each other and put our differences aside."

Master Kenobi raised an eyebrow, "Do tell."

"We need a ride off of this kriffing moon and out of Hutt Space and you need Bort Gling. We will help you get Bort Gling if you will give us safe transport."

Master Kenobi shared a look with Commander Cody and seemed to have a conversation with the soldier only using said look. After a few moments of this, the man sighed and turned to Kisar with a wry smile on his face.

"Very well, my men and I agree to your terms."

***

While Zoruk did not appreciate Kisar making deals with Kenobi right in front of him without his consent, the Cathar leader was still very much on board with leaving Nar Shadaa. He and the other warriors under his command were geared up to take down Gling for Master Kenobi.

Kisar was told to stay behind while Zoruk and his men and Master Kenobi and his men go out to capture or kill Bort Gling. Kisar had never been the most obedient cub to Zoruk, however, and she decided to instead trail after them. They were clearly following their earlier plan of using Master Kenobi as bait to lure out Gling. She watched the two groups of men hide and wait for Gling to notice the Jedi who was ambling along the streets. From what she had been told by Kenobi, Gling hated Jedi to an extreme enough degree where he wouldn't think to question why Master Kenobi was so blatantly exposed. He would only think to kill the Jedi in front of him without a second thought.

After a few hours of Kenobi being dangled on a hook so to speak, Kisar watched as a near-human Hamadryas male approach Master Kenobi. The man was obviously armed and ready to kill Kenobi and probably had the necessary firepower to do so. Unfortunately for Mr. Gling, there was even more firepower currently being aimed against him without him knowing yet. Kisar watched from the shadows as Commander Cody gave some hand signals to his men who then inconspicuously moved towards Gling. Zoruk also began to approach Gling from behind with his warriors.

They were creating a box that Gling would not escape from. Bort Gling may have been under the impression that he was trapping Jedi Obi-wan Kenobi but it was him who was being trapped. Kisar's sharp canines were exposed to the polluted air in a smirk. The Cathar would finally be free from the Hutts' grasp.

Gling spotted Commander Cody and his men first and tried to backpedal away from the soldiers only to run right into Zoruk. The Hamadryas man looked terrified at the sight of the infamous gladiator and ran back towards Commander Cody and his men again. This time, however, it was Master Kenobi who greeted Gling with his lightsaber raised towards the man's neck. The one-sided fight should have been finished at that point but Kisar noticed someone else take aim at Master Kenobi. Either Gling had an accomplice or someone was taking advantage of the chaos caused by Gling to take down Kenobi.

Kisar knew she couldn't shout at the men down below to look out as the urban noises of Nar Shadaa would mask her calls. She would just have to physically intervene herself. She wasted no time and deftly jumped from the tops of building to building in order to reach the hidden assailant before he could shoot Master Kenobi. Kisar had to hold her breath several times because of the stench of the chemicals being produced in the industrial part of the city. Having the heightened senses of a Cathar can be as much of a bane as it was a blessing at times.

At last, Kisar reached the man's hiding spot. This man appeared to at least be humanoid but Kisar could not accurately guess his species with the concealing cloaks he wore. He had a sniper rifle aimed at Kenobi and was still finding the best possible shot. He would only have one chance before he would be found out by the soldiers or Zoruk's men, after all. Kisar only had one shot as well. She was not physically intimidating nor was she particularly strong. The only way she would be able to stop this man would be to take him by surprise.

With a snarl that probably didn't sound scary at all from the tiny cub, Kisar attacked the male sniper from above and used her bodyweight to knock his rifle from his hands. He gave a much more frightening snarl in response and lunged towards the former Jedi youngling. Kisar had to use her Jedi training and her honed instincts from living in constant danger on Nar Shadaa in order to avoid the man's deadly blows. Whenever he swung at her and hit one of the metal columns surrounding them, the columns would break from the pressure. Whatever species this man was, he was strong and capable of killing Kisar with one blow.

Kisar was already tiring from the physical exertion of dodging the lightning fast swings and punches and would not last much longer. After a few more attempted blows, Kisar was taken down after one of the collapsing columns fell on her and crushed her legs. She felt several bones snap from the substantial pressure and the girl let out a guttural cry from her lips at the painful sensation.

The man above her chuckled and unsheathed a blade from somewhere in his robes. He twirled it mockingly in front of the Cathar youngling and stepped closer and closer with every chortle. "That wasn't very smart of ya, girly. Haven't ya evah' learned not to mess with bounty hunters?"

Kisar hissed at him and bared her sharp teeth, "I never learn. I've been told it's one of my major flaws."

Her attacker snickered at her brazen response and lifted his knife up above her chest for the finishing blow. Kisar did not look away no matter how much she wanted to. Zoruk taught her that Cathar face their deaths with dignity.

Before the male could plunge his weapon, two blaster bolts cleanly went into his own chest and he dropped dead to the floor beside her. Kisar gasped with shock and looked around to see who shot the humanoid. Her wide eyes landed on the clone that had unnerved her ever since she met him, Commander Cody. His face was expressionless as he lowered his blaster. Kisar shivered, she hoped she would never be so unfeeling after killing another sentient being.

Master Kenobi and Zoruk ran into the secluded area that the sniper chose. Zoruk immediately rushed to lift the column off of Kisar after realizing she was trapped. She cried out for a second time once the weight was lifted off of her injured legs. Tears were gushing down her face and Kisar tried to wipe them and hide them from the warriors and soldiers in front of her, but she knew it was already too late.

Zoruk gathered her into his powerful arms while being careful not to jostle her legs too much. He sighed at the miserable sight of Kisar's wounded body before making eye-contact with Master Kenobi, "We completed our end of the deal, Kenobi. It is time for you to complete yours."

After hearing Master Kenobi quietly agree and start to inform Zoruk of how to get his people ready to leave, Kisar finally fell unconscious from the pain.

She trusted Master Kenobi and knew that she would wake up out of Nar Shadaa's orbit for the first time in two years.

The Cathar would be free at last.


	5. Chapter 5

Cody didn't know how to handle the currently livid Cathar leader known as Zoruk. Apparently since the former Jedi youngling was injured, it meant that Zoruk believed that he could talk however he wanted to Cody's General.

General Kenobi, per usual, was completely tolerant towards the blatant disrespect thrown at him. Cody was seriously starting to consider giving the Jedi a crash course on the Republic military chain of command and the respect that should be automatically given to a Jedi High General. Of course, General Kenobi was already well aware of the chain of command and still let some of his subordinates walk all over him. Cody swore he felt a hair on his head turn gray every time General Skywalker even opened his mouth around Kenobi.

Zoruk was not a part of the Grand Army of the Republic nor was he a Republic citizen which technically meant he could talk to General Kenobi however he wanted to. Cody still grit his teeth whenever the large Cathar warrior would accuse the 212th Attack Battalion's General of slavery for the fiftieth time. Cody didn't exactly like the situation he or his brothers were in, but he was loyal to the Republic and loyal to the Jedi in the end. Loyalty and duty seemed to be something the Cathar leader did not respect.

As if he knew Cody was thinking dark thoughts about him, Zoruk approached the commander with a pissed off expression. Jango Fett was a fairly tall man with an intimidating figure, and Cody inherited that same frame, but the man before him made Cody feel small. He could tell why Zoruk was once considered the best gladiator in Hutt Space. Zoruk must have been half-Wookie because Cody had never heard of Cathar growing as tall or as broad as he did. Said Cathar was using his size to his advantage as he loomed over the clone.

Zoruk's sharp carnivorous teeth were revealed in a grisly sneer, "Tell me, Commander, how is our cub? Have your Republic healers mended her legs yet? Or have they carelessly abandoned her to her pain like they did after she was attacked by a Mando and marooned in Hutt Space?"

The warrior before him outmatched Cody in every physical quality, but Cody was no pushover and he would not be disrespected by someone who did not outrank him. The Marshal Commander of the 7th Sky Corps of the Republic Army straightened his posture and lifted his chin so that he could properly scowl at Zoruk.

"She is being seen to by qualified and experienced clone medics as we speak. Perhaps you should should get some rest, Zoruk. After all, you are in safe hands under General Kenobi. He is a man of his word and will transport your people to safety."

"I never let my guard down and I never trust the word of anyone, Commander, not even the word of my own men. I will believe your Jedi once the deed is done. And I am not only concerned for our cub because of her current health. I have not been told of what will happen to our little _peedunkey_. She is, after all, a former Jedi youngling and I doubt your Republic would just let her go now," Zoruk scoffed as he crossed his sizable arms over his barrel chest.

Cody frowned and took a moment to consider the answer before giving his own response. The man had a point, the kid would likely be taken in as a Jedi Initiate again if not a Padawan. He had seen Padawans her age on the field already even if they were few and far between. The Jedi Order was reluctant to let any younglings onto the battlefield and Cody couldn't blame them. He would be just as hesitant to let his own cadet brothers on Kamino take one step into a war zone.

"I am not a Jedi, nor am I high enough in the chain of command to influence the decision regarding the youngling. However, I suspect that the Jedi Order will take her back as an Initiate, perhaps even as a Padawan given her proven skills."

Zoruk looked concerned by the information and was thankfully distracted enough by his own thoughts to leave Cody alone for the duration of the day.

Cody sighed in relief and began to return to his quarters to finish up some paperwork.

He hoped he never would have to deal with any of those Cathar again once they got dropped off to kriff knows where.

***

Kisar couldn't believe it. She was back in the Jedi Order as a Padawan Learner despite technically being behind in her Jedi teachings. Apparently Master Kenobi was so impressed by both her story of survival and her performance saving him from a sniper that she was accepted as a Jedi once more. The Jedi Council then added on to her escalating shock by making her the new apprentice to Master Kenobi and Padawan Commander for the 212th Attack Battalion.

She was given this news not long after she woke up in the medbay of a gigantic Republic cruiser called the Negotiator. Her legs were mostly healed by the advanced medicine offered by the clone medics and Kisar could not help but gawk at everything around her. How could the Republic change so much in just two years? When she was last a part of the Jedi Order, the Jedi did not lead armies nor did they have access to giant military cruisers on a regular basis. The Jedi had been peacekeepers and negotiators since the Ruusan Reformation when their military powers were stripped away almost a thousand years ago.

Jedi Knight Kenobi, whom Kisar shortly found out was actually a newly appointed Jedi Master, welcomed her back into the Jedi Order with a few holograms of the Jedi Councilors joining him. Kisar felt her eyes widen when she saw Masters Yoda and Windu for the first time in years. She had interacted with both Jedi Masters some in her time as an Initiate in Dragon Clan. Master Windu was a former Initiate of Dragon Clan and therefore was a longtime friend of his clanmate, the late Master Hosep. Master Yoda was the one who actually listened and tried to interpret Kisar's nightmarish visions even if his actions were in vain. Seeing both of the Jedi Masters made Kisar feel at home once more.

However, Kisar could not help but yearn to leave with Zoruk and his people. They had received her with open arms when she first came to Nar Shadaa and Kisar was well aware of the fact that she would not have survived if it weren't for Zoruk's protection and hospitality. The freedom of the lifestyle she lived before would no longer exist now that she was a Jedi. She would have to get used to some big changes as Padawan to High General Obi-wan Kenobi.

Master Kenobi seemed perfectly fine with having Kisar as a Padawan and had begun to take it upon himself to update her on what had happened to the Republic and the Jedi Order in the past two years since she was gone. Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master, outed himself as a Sith Lord and kidnapped Master Kenobi, his former Padawan, and a Senator from Naboo and a Jedi task force retaliated causing a galaxy wide war.

Master Kenobi also was the one who stumbled upon the clones in Kamino apparently.

The Jedi Master continued his retelling, "I found that the bounty hunter Jango Fett was the genetic template of the clones and even trained the first generation of them alongside other handpicked Mandalorian trainers known as the Cuy'val Dar. Most of the Mandalorian trainers have left Kamino after Jango's death on Geonosis, however, and the clones are now trained by professionals from all over the galaxy."

Kisar zoned out the rest of what Master Kenobi was saying after she heard that the clones were technically the sons of Jango Fett.

Spar's words rang through her head, "You almost wiped out the True Mandalorians that day, but one survived. He was my progenitor, Jango Fett."

Spar was a clone from Kamino just like Cody, Waxer, Boil, and the rest of the clone troopers were. Kisar felt sick as she remembered Spar's merciless killing of her clanmates and compared it to the emotionless termination of the bounty hunter by Cody. They were both trained to kill effectively and without sympathy. How could she not have noticed the voice similarities on Nar Shadaa? Spar was a man who had haunted her nightmares every night she slept for two straight years. Kisar had heard his voice over and over again promising revenge on her for setting him on fire in her dreams yet she could not recognize an identical version of it in real life.

She was not only assigned to Master Kenobi as a Padawan Learner, she was assigned to the 212th Battalion as a Commander alongside Cody. She would have to work alongside men who looked and talked exactly like the man who tormented her sleep. Kisar audibly whimpered at the realization of her future as a Jedi.

Master Kenobi stopped his run-through at the sound, "Padawan....are you alright?"

Her bottom lip trembled and Kisar cursed herself for appearing so young and weak in front of the Jedi Master, "They look and sound just like Spar don't they?"

The Human Jedi's eyes softened in compassionate understanding as he lifted a hand and placed it on her shoulder. She could feel the warmth of his skin through the thin material of the medical gown.

"Kisar, my men are loyal to the Republic and to the Jedi. They would never hurt you. I know this must be tough but as a Jedi you must be able to push aside negative feelings such as fear in order to keep your mind clear and focus on what needs to be done. And what needs to be done is the Jedi need to help win this war so that the Republic can be at peace again."

Kisar wanted to cry, now she really wanted to go rejoin Zoruk.

But it was too late, Zoruk was about to leave with the rest of the Cathar. Master Kenobi found a farming planet in the Mid-Rim willing to accept Zoruk and his people. It already had a Cathar population that had been there since the genocide and consequential refugee dispersion. She could tell that Zoruk was excited to finally get in touch with his Cathar roots after he and his family had been slaves to the Hutts for centuries. As much as she longed to be with them, she knew in her heart that she belonged with the Jedi and with the Republic.

Kisar nodded her head in resignation and quietly asked her new Master if he would help her walk over to where the 212th congregated so that she may greet them properly as their new Padawan Commander.

Once she arrived to the cafeteria part of the Negotiator, she was met with the sight of hundreds of identical men wearing the face of Jango Fett. They were clothed in white armor with unique individual yellow stripes. The clones were already intimidating on Nar Shadaa when she thought they were just regular soldiers, but now that she knew they were the legacy of Jango Fett and the kin of Spar, they terrified her. However, as Alorum would often complain, Kisar had a particularly troublesome habit of ignoring the warnings in her head about danger and being afraid. As Master Kenobi instructed, Kisar would release her feelings of fear into the Force so that she may properly serve the Republic as a Jedi.

The Force sung with rightness and a feeling of belonging as Kisar stepped towards to a place where everyone could see her. With their General behind her, the men snapped to attention and looked towards her.

Kisar smiled with as much friendliness and confidence as she could muster in her emotional and physically weakened state.

"Hello everyone," she took a breath and made eye contact with as many of the gathered soldiers as she could, "My name is Kisar and I will be your assigned Padawan Commander for the remainder of my training under your General Kenobi."

Excited and shocked murmurs broke out amongst the crowd of men, they clearly were not expecting Master Kenobi to receive a new Padawan for training anytime soon.

Kisar watched as Master Kenobi stepped forward and took control of the rest of the briefing for the 212th Attack Battalion. She observed how they hung onto his every word and stared at him with obvious adoration. Master Kenobi was loved by his men and his authority was respected, Kisar doubted that she could ever gain that same admiration as a Jedi. She wasn't the same youngling that she was when Spar attacked her two years ago. Kisar knew that she was far too changed by her experience in Nar Shadaa to ever be an orthodox or respected Jedi.

Kisar accidentally made eye contact with the unnerving Commander Cody across the room. He wasn't staring at Master Kenobi like his men were. No, Commander Cody was instead staring right at Kisar and seemingly analyzing her, weighing her usefulness and worth. Kisar may have been unsettled by the clone Commander but she pulled her shoulders back all the same and straightened her posture under his gaze in an act of fortitude.

Kisar may not have been an orthodox Jedi but that didn't mean she still couldn't be an effective one.

********************

Translations

 _Peedunkey_ : punk


	6. Chapter 6

Cody knew the kid was afraid of him and his brothers. It was painfully obvious even to the shinies.

When he first met her on Nar Shaddaa, he was undercover with some of Ghost Company. Cody was already uncomfortable because he was wearing civilian clothes and because his Jedi General was being used as bait. He was on high alert because of his discomfort and noticed the young furry sentient approaching his General right away.

She was scraggly and had worn down clothing that hung loosely around her frame. The girl looked every inch the street rat that Boil later categorized her as. Cody was severely unimpressed.

When she later risked her life to save General Kenobi by attacking a bounty hunter that was much larger than her, Cody would admit that he began to respect her a little bit. The kid was crazy and reckless but also selfless and loyal to someone she just met. As a clone, he could respect that. Apparently Cathar were as tough and devoted as their reputation portrayed them to be.

However, she was still young and inexperienced in Jedi and military matters. Cody would be the first to admit that he didn't want her to be assigned to General Kenobi as a Padawan Commander. He knew that, as a Marshal Commander, he technically outranked her and could countermand any irrational orders the Padawan could give out, but the thought of having the lives of his brothers in the hands of someone so young and reckless in the first place made Cody feel sick.

Watching her skirt around his men and himself made Cody feel even more worry creep into his mind. If she was scared of them, Cody couldn't imagine how much someone like Ventress or General Grievous would scare the kid. The newly appointed Padawan Kisar's personality changed drastically from when they met on Nar Shaddaa. The same spunky kid who stared down a murderous bounty hunter about to kill her seemed to be replaced with a frightened little girl.

When he asked General Kenobi about it, the man looked sad before informing Cody that Kisar had been attacked by the former ARC trooper known as Spar. Cody had heard of Spar and knew that he was the current leader of the Separatist Mandalorian Supercommandos, a group of highly trained Mandalorian warriors from various backgrounds. After Spar defected from the GAR, he was a bounty hunter for a couple of years before taking up the self proclaimed title of _Mand'alor_ and fighting against the same government that he swore to serve as a soldier. His story disgusted most clones and caused many of the older clones to abandon the Mandalorian culture they were raised in by their trainers and by Jango Fett himself.

The poor kid was probably traumatized after her experience with Spar and was reminded of that experience over and over again every time she saw another clone.

Cody sighed and rubbed his hand over his face in an effort to massage his worsening headache.

The kid may have had his sympathy, but he doubted she would ever have his trust like General Kenobi did.  
  


***  
  


Kisar was trying to be closer to the clone troopers but it was so hard talking to someone who wore the face of her worse nightmare. The clones appeared to notice her uneasiness and did their best to stay clear away from her. She appreciated their thoughtfulness but felt intense shame at her own cowardice.

Alorum and Zoruk noticed her discomfort right before they entered a shuttle provided by the Republic for their safe relocation. The two elder Cathar males placed their large hands on her trembling shoulders as she tearfully bade them farewell. She did not voice her fears to them before they left but she did not have to. Zoruk and Alorum had been her primary caretakers for a large fraction of her short life, they knew her better than anyone else. They saw right through her attempted mask of indifference and murmured words of comfort.

"Remember, Kisar," Zoruk whispered, "you are a survivor. Your will is strong and your determination is limitless. You will not succeed by being the strongest, bravest, or most skilled, you will succeed by withstanding all that is thrown at you."

Alorum nodded in agreement, "Yer a _peedunkey_ , cub, there's no doubt about that, but I'll admit that I've never seen anyone with more stubbornness and perseverance as you. You'll find a way to get through this, kiddo, ya always do and ya always will."

And with those parting words of encouragement, another chapter of Kisar's life completely ended and a new one started.

She was no longer Kisar the street rat and troublemaker, she was Kisar the Jedi Padawan and Republic Commander.

Well, maybe she would still be a bit of a troublemaker too.  
  
  


***  
  
  


She was going to meet Master Kenobi's former Padawan and his Padawan today. Apparently Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker had a reputation for being reckless but extremely effective in his battlefield tactics. He also happened to be the Chosen One according to Master Kenobi.

The bar was set high for Kisar already. She wasn't the Chosen One and didn't have the raw power that he did. She didn't even have the same training. Kisar was seriously behind on her Jedi lessons after being stranded in Hutt Space for two years. She was hilariously outmatched by her predecessor and had no idea how to even the playing field.

With that depressing thought, Kisar stepped out of her shared quarters with Master Kenobi and made her way towards the main hangar to wait and meet her Master's former Padawan.

As she walked to the designated meeting area, Kisar couldn't help but feel that she was going to be compared to this Jedi Knight Skywalker a lot. After all, she must have been a serious downgrade for Master Kenobi after training the Chosen One and famous hero of the Republic. She had heard of Anakin Skywalker the famous human boy Podracer in Hutt Space. People still talked about him years after he won the podraces. Skywalker was an inspiration to slaves all over the Hutts' territory. Now he was Anakin Skywalker, the General of the 501st Legion, a favorite of HoloNet broadcasters.

She was just Kisar.

"Ah, Kisar! There you are!" Master Kenobi's voice broke through her mental contemplation, she must have arrived in the hangar already without realizing it.

Kisar forced a smile to her face and approached her Master. There were four other people standing next to Master Kenobi, one of which she recognized as Commander Cody. There was another clone right next to Cody in blue painted armor and some strange skirt looking thing with a one-sided shoulder pad. Kisar resisted the urge to audibly snort at the sight, he looked ridiculous. The way the other clone held himself seemed to convey a sense of skill and deadliness to counteract that strange attire, however. He was probably just as dangerous and scary as Cody was.

She then scanned her eyes over to the two other beings next to Master Kenobi. The shorter of the two was a Togruta girl with what appeared to be some Togrutan traditional attire mixed with Jedi clothing. The result of the mix was a revealing but breathable outfit, the preferred choice of Togrutan hunters and warriors. Kisar had always respected the Togruta as fellow hunters and carnivores in a galaxy largely inhabited by flat-toothed omnivores.

The last person she identified was a tall human male with dark clothing. He was obviously a Jedi but his intimidating demeanor and dark style set him apart from most of the peaceful and approachable Jedi Kisar grew up around. She couldn't help but wonder if this man was as intimidating as Master Windu, now that would be a feat. Given his appearance and confident manner, Kisar guessed that he was the beloved Anakin Skywalker.

She bowed respectfully to the assembled group and gave her best fake smile that Alorum taught her to use around adults she didn't trust that were stronger than her. Master Kenobi nodded in approval, either he thought her smile was genuine or he thought her fake smile was impressive, it was hard to tell with that strange Jedi Master.

Master Kenobi gestured to Kisar as he introduced her, "Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, I'd like to introduce my new Padawan to you all."

Kisar stepped forward and nodded to each of them before turning back to Skywalker and bowing low as she was taught in her old Crèche classes, " _Achuta, my pee kasa_ Kisar. _Jee na uba. Yoka_ Anakin Skywalker. _Yoka un shag coo chappa chawas. Ateema yoka un Jedai!"_

Master Skywalker gave a shocked choking sound, " _Chuba man-tah Huttese?!"_

Kisar nodded enthusiastically, speaking Huttese put her back into her comfort zone, " _Tagwa! Dobrah tuta Nar Shadaa._ "

Master Kenobi cleared his throat and gave Kisar a teasing look, "In Basic for the rest of us, please."

Kisar huffed in embarrassment before reluctantly translating what she said, "I was telling Master Skywalker that I know who he is because his story of winning his freedom from slavery through podracing as a boy is famous across Hutt Space."

The Togruta Padawan began to giggle and cover her smiling face, "I am trying to imagine you as a podracer when you were so little!"

Then she seemed to realize the rest of what Kisar said wasn't very funny, "Wait, Skyguy.....you were a slave?" 

Kisar gasped once she registered that she gave up some private information about Master Skywalker. Per usual, her personal relations skills were significantly lacking. 

Master Skywalker was too busy giving his Padawan a stuttering answer to be upset with Kisar but she knew that he would be later on. Her large ears flattened with shame as she made herself appear to be physically smaller. It was a defense mechanism caused by years surrounded by people who were bigger and stronger than her. Zoruk may have done his best to protect her, but Kisar was still a largely defenseless little girl in a moon full of criminals, some things were unavoidable. 

To her surprise, it was Commander Cody who stepped up behind her and asked Master Kenobi if they could continue the introductions later on. Master Kenobi, obviously seeing the awkwardness accidentally caused by Kisar, nodded his head in agreement and waved them off as Kisar felt the Commander grab her by the forearm and forcefully led her away. 

Kisar thought she was being led to her quarters again, only to realize that Commander Cody was taking turns towards the cafeteria. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at the Commander only to see his stern face staring straight ahead. He was determined to take her to the cafeteria, but Kisar did not yet know why. 

"Commander," she started hesitantly, "why are we going to the cafeteria?" 

"Mess hall." 

She frowned in confusion, "What?"

The Commander glanced down at her finally, "We call it the mess hall not the cafeteria."

Kisar rolled her eyes in irritation, " _Okay_ , why are we going to the mess hall then?"

Commander Cody grunted and gave her an unhelpful answer, "To sort some things out."

With that, they entered the mess hall and Kisar saw that some members of the 212th Battalion was waiting for her. She sucked in a shocked breath and tried to pry herself from Commander Cody's grip, but he was far stronger than her and her struggles were in vain. 

She was sat down in front of the assembled group of soldiers. She recognized two of the soldiers as Waxer and Boil, who she met on Nar Shadaa. The rest were unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Their faces she knew all too well, but Kisar did not know the owners of those faces. It was both a blessing and a curse that Spar never took off his helmet when he assaulted Master Hosep. The only way Kisar knew what his face looked like was because she was looking at dozens of versions of it at that moment. Every time she looked at a clone's face or heard their voices, she would always wonder if that was what Spar would look and sound like without the helmet. 

Commander Cody took his place right behind Kisar. He was looming over her with his hands behind his back in a parade rest. Kisar glanced back at him nervously before hesitantly repeating her question of why she was brought there. 

Waxer, the least intimidating clone to Kisar, responded gently, "We noticed your...unease...around us, sir. Commander Cody informed us of your experience with the defector Spar. Very few clones share his sentiments and even fewer have become Mandalorians. The members of the 212th Attack Battalion are amongst the most loyal and effective Republic soldiers. Please believe me when I say we would be the last clones to ever harm you. We will be working together for a while and we need to trust each other."

Several of the clones surrounding Waxer nodded enthusiastically at his statement. Boil just sat there with his arms crossed with an unimpressed look upon his face. He reminded Kisar a lot of Alorum. They both were grumpy and verbally hostile. Hopefully, Boil would be just as steadfast of an ally as the old Cathar warrior was. 

Waxer was right, she had to trust them or their military operations would fail. 

She sighed, "While I will have trouble completely getting rid of my _unease_ around you troopers, I promise to keep my own past demons and personal feelings from affecting our teamwork."

She took a breath and muttered to herself more than to the clones around her, "Such is the way of a Jedi." 

***

Translations

_Peedunkey:_ Punk

 _Achuta, my pee kasa_ Kisar. _Jee na uba. Yoka_ Anakin Skywalker. _Yoka un shag coo chappa chawas. Ateema yoka un Jedai!:_ Hello, my name is Kisar. I know you. You are Anakin Skywalker. You were the slave who podraces. Now you are a Jedi!

 _Chuba man-tah Huttese?!_ : You speak Huttese?!

 _Tagwa! Dobrah tuta Nar Shadaa:_ Yes! I am from Nar Shadaa. 


	7. Chapter 7

Kisar was preparing for her first military operation with the 212th Attack Battalion. It was on the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth and had Jedi Generals Windu and Skywalker joining them with their own clone forces. Having Master Windu join them comforted Kisar but her interactions with Master Skywalker had been consistently awkward and tense after her slip up in their first meeting.

Master Kenobi kept assuring Kisar that Skywalker would warm up to her eventually, but such an event had yet to happen. The Jedi Knight still maintained a rigid demeanor around her for the last standard month. Kisar's self-loathing and inwardly pointed blame were starting to point outward at that point. It was one misunderstanding, one she created unknowingly. In Hutt Space, everyone knew the story of the former slave turned Jedi Anakin Skywalker, how was she supposed to know that most people in the Republic didn't? Skywalker was far too sensitive for someone who used to spend his life belonging to another sentient.

Nonetheless, Kisar could not be so rash in her disapproval. Alorum always used to comment that Kisar was extraordinarily good at judging the character of others, but even she was wrong at times. Master Skywalker was a respected and trusted member of the Republic and Jedi Order, sensitive or not, he did not deserve to be dishonored by a mere rookie Padawan.

A beep from her doorway signaled Commander Cody's entrance to her room. The clone Marshall Commander was silent as he patiently waited for Kisar to finish getting ready for her first battle briefing. He didn't seem particularly bothered by the fact that he walked into a ten year old girl's room with minimal warning. Kisar may have still been slightly afraid of her fellow Commander, but it didn't stop her from shooting a dark look over her shoulder at him for intruding.

Commander Cody didn't look particularly bothered by her glare either.

"Come on, kid. General Kenobi is waiting."

"I have been told that I am actually the same age as you, you know." She gritted out between her teeth. Kisar did not appreciate being called kid by someone who was technically the same age as her.

Commander Cody merely raised his eyebrows and snorted in what she assumed was amusement at her expense. He took a long stride towards her and Kisar was faced with the reality of how much smaller she was compared to the clones she served with. Commander Cody towered over her form and crossed his arms. Kisar gulped nervously.

Commander Cody lowered his chin while Kisar strained her neck up and the two made direct eye-contact. A grin that was all teeth graced the Marshal Commander's features, "But we're taller."

Kisar scoffed and stuck her tongue out at him.

He only gave her an unimpressed and stern look in response, "And work on your manners, _kid_ , you're representing the Jedi and the Republic now."

Kisar grumbled but obeyed reluctantly. This was her first rodeo but this wasn't Cody's first rodeo. He had more experience in military matters and Kisar would have to play nice for a little bit before she got the hang of things. When Commander Cody gestured for Kisar to follow, she did as instructed. 

The two Commanders of the 212th Attack Battalion headed out towards their meeting together on the _Negotiator_ as Ryloth burned below.  
  
  


***  
  
  


Kisar silently followed behind Masters Windu and Kenobi as they discussed how to eject the Separatist forces from Ryloth.

"The first trick, will be getting our troops on the ground." Master Kenobi muttered as he and Kisar stepped onto a ship as they were about to leave for Ryloth.

Master Windu followed behind them before stopping in front of the ship. He offered some sound advice to Master Kenobi, "If you take the city of Nabat first, we'll have our landing zone."

Master Kenobi folded his arms across his armored chest in contemplation, "Well, it's time to meet the natives."

Master Windu nodded his head and gave something close to a smile on his famously controlled features to Kisar, "May the Force be with you, young Padawan."

Kisar drew in a breath to relax herself against the anxiety invading her senses. She looked at Master Windu and used his calm face to motivate herself to smooth over her own features.

"May the Force be with you as well, Master Windu."

And with those parting words, the doors to their smaller gunship closed. Kisar made sure to keep her breathing even but her hands still managed to become clammy with sweat. She was pretty sure they were also trembling but she could not tell with the vibrations of the ship masking it. Her mind kept helpfully replaying scenarios in her head where she died a horrible death in battle before even getting the chance to make a name for herself.

It seemed like an eternity before their gunship moved and began to make its departure to Ryloth's surface. Kisar jumped with some of the movements of the ship. She hated flying, she had since she was stranded in space for weeks. Kisar nervously looked around to see if any of the clones or her Master noticed her scared reactions. Fortunately, either no one noticed or pitied her enough to not make any comments about it.

Master Kenobi addressed the assembled clones around him with authority, "We need to remember why we're here. We came to aid the Twi'leks, not destroy their home."

He then asked Commander Cody to continue his instructions. The Commander managed to add even more authority to his words with a sharp bark, "That means we'll be taking it back the hard way. Minimal destruction with blasters and droid poppers only. No rockets or detonators. Check your aim. Keep an eye for the locals. Am I understood?"

All the troopers around Kisar stood to attention and shouted a "Sir, yes, sir!" in unison.

Boil, who was standing right next to Kisar, sighed in irritation and grumbled to Waxer, "If we're here to free the tailheads, the least they can do is get out of our way."

Kisar winced at the harsh statement, "They didn't choose to have their home destroyed like this, Boil. This is the least _we_ can do."

She made sure to keep her voice low so only Boil and perhaps Waxer could hear what she said. Boil openly glowered at her before muttering, "What does a shiny Jedi Commander know anyway."

Kisar rolled her eyes at that comment, even though it did hurt a bit. She would prove them all wrong eventually anyways.

Master Windu's voice suddenly penetrated through her thoughts as a hologram of him appeared in front of Master Kenobi, "We can't risk landing the larger transports until you take out those guns."

The tension within the gunship heightened at that dire statement. A clone trooper named Wooley, someone she just met that very day, visibly stiffened in either fear or perhaps grim acceptance. 

Master Kenobi grunted back, "Pull back. We'll take care of it."

Kisar really wished they didn't have to. She wondered if all battles were like this, it seemed that their situation became increasingly more and more dismal with every minute. 

Their gunship lurched to the side and Kisar audibly yelped within it. She looked around wildly once she stabilized herself and heard the sound of colliding metal and an explosion with her sensitive ears. She felt through the Force that several lives had just been taken behind their gunship. Apparently their gunship managed to avoid enemy fire that the gunships behind them could not. Kisar closed her eyes briefly in sorrow at the sudden and violent deaths the men behind her experienced. Nausea permeated her stomach as Kisar fought the urge to throw up at the feel and smell of death in the air. 

She was at least able to look up when her Master's accented voice called out, "Who's up for a challenge? We are not getting any reinforcements until those guns are out of commission."

Another turn for the worst. 

Waxer sarcastically lamented to Boil beside him, "Here we go again."

The sound of another ship being shot down invaded Kisar's senses. She wanted to cup her hands over her ears and close her eyes. She wanted to huddle in a ball and cry like the cub she was. Kisar could not do any of those things, it may not have been right for her to fight at her age, but it was not right for the Twi'leks to lose their homes and freedom either. 

Kisar took a deep breath and reached out in the Force to center herself. When she was an Initiate, Kisar learned of a Force power known as Battlemind. It gave the user an ability to increase their morale and fighting capability. She had studied it when she was younger but never quite was able to master it. Kisar knew the ability alluded her at that moment but she could still use the Force to calm herself. 

She was a Jedi.

She was from the Dragon Clan.

She was a Cathar.

She was a survivor. 

She could do this.

Her eyes opened to reveal an intense green feline orbs. The nausea in her body receded to a manageable amount. She tightened her hold on the temporary lightsaber that she was given by Master Kenobi. 

Kisar knew that she was ready as she would ever be to face death head on in battle for the first time in her life. At that moment, the doors to their gunship opened to reveal the surface of Ryloth. 

Master Kenobi placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and ordered Kisar to remain by his side no matter what during the ensuing battle. Kisar nodded shakily before readying herself to exit the gunship. 

The clones around her jumped off the gunship and onto the ground below them. Kisar followed their lead alongside her Master. They ran up a hill through a strange forest together. Kisar had never been in such a wild place before. The only life she knew was on city planets like Coruscant or urban moons like Nar Shadaa. 

Everything was silent and still. Almost as if dozens of lives had not just been taken in the skies above. 

Kisar waited behind her Master as the clones around her hid in the trees in order to prepare for their attack on the droid barrier in front of them. Kisar gazed at the Separatist battle droids from a distance, she had never seen one up close, only from afar in the HoloNet. They all were well-armed and had an intimidating design to them. 

She heard one of their robotic voices inform their friends that they saw movement in the trees before ordering the other droids to open fire. 

And just like that, Kisar's first battle began. 

She was not fully aware of what was happening. All of the sudden, blaster fire filled the air and its sound hurt her eardrums. Clones were ducking this way and that in order to avoid the incoming blaster bolts as best as they could but some were unfortunate enough to be hit. She watched in a terrified daze as Commander Cody shouted orders to the men around him to keep moving forward. 

"Come on men, let's go!"

"Keep moving!"

"Take 'em all out!"

The identical voices called out around her. Kisar was unable to tell the voices apart in her emotional state but she was coherent enough to at least follow her Master as he pressed forward. Master Kenobi blocked incoming blaster fire with his lightsaber with impressive ease. Kisar had to make sure to stay away from the wide strokes of the deadly blue saber. 

"That bunker is gonna be a problem, General." Kisar turned to see Commander Cody using a tree right next to them for cover. He felt so calm in the Force compared to Kisar's own fluster. 

Master Kenobi glanced at his Padawan thoughtfully before responding to Cody, "Leave the bunker to me and bring in your troopers at my signal." 

Master Kenobi paused before continuing, "I will leave Kisar with you, I don't want her to come with me with so little protection at the moment."

Kisar almost audibly wailed but she was sure she might have let out a choked sob. Kenobi couldn't leave her now! "Master! You told me to stick with you!"

Master Kenobi briefly placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort, "Trust in the Force, young one. Plans change and things go wrong sometimes, but you should never stop trusting in the Force to guide you through those times. One such time is now. Don't worry, you are in good hands with Cody."

Without hesitation after his speech, Master Kenobi headed towards the barrier with Waxer and Boil behind him as support. Kisar was left with Commander Cody, who motioned for her to get behind him in the same fashion that she was behind her Master earlier. Kisar, drained of her usual defiant spirit at the moment, obeyed without question and quickly took cover behind his heavily armored body. 

After she did so, Kisar felt an instant alleviation to her previous horror and shock. Not even the presences of the legendary Jedi Masters Obi-wan Kenobi and Inan Hosep calmed her as effectively. She stared at the back of Commander Cody's helmet with confusion, why was his presence so different?

The Marshall Commander turned back to the clone troopers behind the two of them and shouted, "Ghost Company, let's move!"

Following Cody as he charged the barrier was easier for Kisar than following Master Kenobi as she had to dodge less lightsaber swings. The only issue was keeping up with his longer strides with her smaller legs and overall smaller everything. 

Within minutes after that charge by the Ghost Company, the barrier was captured by their forces and the droids who shot at them were all destroyed.

Kisar took a moment to rest before assessing herself. To her embarrassment, she had wet herself in fear. Luckily, Kisar chose to stick with darker colors than was common for Jedi and the wet spot was invisible to everyone else. 

Kisar also noticed that she was still tightly gripping her lightsaber, but had never activated it. In her fear-driven state, she had forgotten to even ignite her lightsaber in the battle. Kisar wanted to smack herself and would've if it weren't for the fact that the men surrounding her would think she had gone crazy.

Kisar was not impressed with her own performance in her first battle. She was a Jedi yet she let fear control her actions and thoughts. She even yelled at Master Kenobi. The only time Kisar was starting to get a hold of herself was when she was alongside Commander Cody, which made no sense as she despised being around him and was completely terrified of him only a few days ago. 

The Cathar Jedi Padawan gazed quizzically at the unnerving clone Commander. 

Whatever was going on, Kisar hoped that she would figure it out fast because she had many more battles ahead of her if she was to be Master Kenobi's Padawan. 


	8. Chapter 8

Kisar took advantage of the momentary break offered by Master Kenobi as he and Commander Cody planned their next move. She was exhausted and her mind had not yet caught up with the fact that she was just in a near death experience and ran towards a firefight instead of away.

Suddenly, Commander Cody shouted to Kisar to join him and Waxer, Boil, and Wooley to scout ahead. Kisar groaned but followed his orders after Cody glared at her into submission from behind his helmet. How someone could convey so much emotion with their face entirely covered eluded Kisar.

She looked back to her Master to see if it was his idea for her to join with Commander Cody, but Master Kenobi was too busy strategizing to notice her trying to get his attention. Kisar furrowed her eyebrows in frustration before trailing after Commander Cody. She was under the impression that Jedi Masters and their Padawans were supposed to stick closer together, but what would she know, she was still new to everything. Master Kenobi was a Jedi High General and had other pressing duties at the moment for the sake of freeing Ryloth.

Waxer quietly told her to remain as silent as possible while they scouted. For the first time since they arrived on Ryloth, Kisar was in her comfort zone. Staying out of sight and avoiding attention was a basic survival skill taught to Kisar by Alorum. She was smaller and weaker than most humanoids that she encountered on Nar Shadaa so Kisar was instructed to learn how to avoid sentients in order to avoid confrontation. Even in the eerily empty streets of the Twi'lek city of Nabat, Kisar was at her best in an urban environment.

With only the sound of the hushed boot fall of the clones and the occasional sound of a wild animal or perhaps an abandoned pet, the group of four clones and one Padawan continued through Nabat.

"Buildings are just buildings," Cody's voice broke through the silence, "what really makes a city are the inhabitants that live in it."

"So, where are they?" Boil's gruff voice questioned.

"I've heard of something like this," Kisar found herself speaking before she could stop herself, an unfortunate common experience for her, "entire villages and colonies are taken at once by slavers with the right kind of resources. In those situations, quantity is the goal and not quality, according to Zoruk anyway, slaves are often the most mistreated from mass raids."

Waxer seemed disgusted from that information, "How can someone own another sentient being and mistreat them like that?"

Kisar wanted to respond by pointing out that the clones were very much owned by the Republic before Commander Cody interrupted her.

"We'll check out the courtyard. You two take the south sector. Be back at command at 0620."

Kisar glared at the back of the Commander's helmet for his interruption but knew better than to audibly voice her displeasure. Cody seemed to love to put her in her place and she was too tired at the moment to rise to the challenge of talking back to him.

After they split up, Kisar found herself behind Cody once again with Wooley placed behind her. She was guessing that that order was purposeful. Kisar was now protected and shielded from both ends. Despite Commander Cody's less than friendly attitude towards Kisar, he still had not failed to look out for her wellbeing both on and off the battlefield. The instantaneous comfort she felt whenever she was near him in a stressful situation was strange. She may have just met Master Kenobi, but they were still supposed to develop a training bond, which meant she should feel comforted by Kenobi's presence, not Cody's. Instead, the Force pulled her to Cody's side or even brought the Commander to her whenever Kisar was in a worrying situation or mental state.

Maybe Kisar was a defective Padawan and was too unorthodox to be a good Jedi.

***

Cody didn't know how to handle having a Jedi cadet permanently around. When General Kenobi told him to look after the youngling in the heat of battle, Cody was shocked but dutifully obeyed his commanding officer. He made sure the kid stayed behind him at all times while she was under his watch but still couldn't help but worry for her safety. For some reason, despite her being annoying and a burden in Cody's eyes, he felt a pull to watch out for her.

If he wasn't wearing his bucket, Cody would've rubbed his forehead with his hands in an attempt to soothe the headache creeping into his system. Instead, he could only shake his head lightly in frustration before continuing to scout for survivors or for droid activity. The city of Nabat was unnaturally vacant with no signs of sentient lifeforms anywhere, only the uninhabited buildings they left behind. Either they were taken like the kid said, or they were dead.

Cody shook his head in denial. No, he had to believe they were alive somewhere or his General's work was in vain.

He had to return to his General and report to him that there were no Twi'leks spotted. It wasn't news Cody wanted to give, but as Marshall Commander, it was some news that he had a duty to give.

He quietly ordered Wooley and Kisar to follow him back to command. The Padawan tried to argue that they should look harder and that there had to be someone left in the city, but Cody ignored her and turned around.

In his mind, the Commander hoped that he was wrong and that someone was around that he and his men missed.

"Commander!" Cody turned to see Wooley pointing to the kid, who's large ears were flickering and seeming to hone in on a sound. Her Cathar biology probably allowed her to hear more things than he did so Cody decided to remain silent so that she could find the origin of the sound she was hearing.

"I hear machines! The sound of droids talking and.....yes! I hear people too! They aren't talking much though. I think the droids are trying to keep them quiet?" Kisar's ears finally stopped focusing on the direction of the sound and she instead started walking towards the noise, without Cody's permission.

Wooley, at the very least, dutifully waited for his Commander's consent even as the tiny terror kept marching on. Cody sighed and started following the disrespectful Padawan with the trooper copying his actions.

General Kenobi seriously owed him for having to deal with the insolent little Jedi.

After a few minutes of walking, the two clones could hear the noises Kisar described too. The sound of droids marching was by far the loudest and provided an air of ominous dread. Cody quickly made sure he was in front of the kid before lowering into a crouch so that he could use the boxes in the alleyway they were hiding in as cover.

Wooley also physically placed himself between Kisar and the droids before whispering, "Not gonna be easy getting to those guns, sir."

Cody internally agreed with his pessimistic observation before muttering back, "There is always a way, Wooley."

He used his scopes to get a better look at the situation. "They're holding all the survivors hostage. We have to report this to General Kenobi."

The kid thankfully had remained out of sight and blissfully silent the entire time they were next to the battle droids. She was at least good at being stealthy when she wasn't mouthing off. Cody mentally added that to his list of things to keep in mind when dealing with her in the future.

He made sure to make eye-to-visor contact with her before tilting his helmet back the way they came to show they were returning to command. Kisar nodded and turned around with Wooley mindfully staying behind her as a human shield should the droids notice their presence.

Cody took one last assessing look at the Twi'leks before walking away and making a wordless vow to find a way to free them.

***

Kisar was bored. She never thought she would be in an active war zone, but she was. After Commander Cody all but threw her into Master Kenobi's arms and distanced himself from her, Kisar found she had nothing to do except sit there as some sort of glorified Padawan mascot.

Kisar did not let her boredom or general confusion on what she was supposed show in her face or body language, however. She may have been ten years old, but Kisar knew more about the galaxy than even some adults because of her various experiences of trying to survive in a hostile environment. Zoruk always taught Kisar to never act ignorant as that would make her a target. She should always act as if she knew what she was doing even if she didn't in order to avoid being seen as easy prey or being looked down upon.

"I won't be prey." She muttered to herself as motivation. She would make Zoruk and all of the other Cathar who took care of her proud. 

Ironically, it was at that moment that some of the giant beasts that Kisar saw earlier flood the street they were in. As scary as they were from afar, their terrifying image quadrupled up close where Kisar could see how big they were and how much their breath smelled of the decaying and dead flesh of what she hoped were non-sentient animals. 

Kisar’s instincts were going wild. Her subconscious was screaming at her to run but Kisar’s conscious would not listen. She couldn’t abandon her Master or the 212th.

Most clones managed to get out of the way of the stampeding predators and attack them with blaster fire but a few were unlucky enough or slow enough to get caught and torn to pieces. Kisar wrenched her eyes away from the gruesome sight before finding cover. A soundless snarl was developing on her face as Kisar activated her lightsaber for the first time on Ryloth. She was about to attack one of the beasts when the sense of the Force being used was felt in the air.

Kisar turned to see Master Kenobi leading the animals away from the 212th and toward an alleyway. The powerful Force maneuver was causing a buzzing feeling to Kisar and maybe even to the clones too. She couldn’t help but watch in awe as Master Kenobi controlled so many rabid beasts at once. She truly was a Padawan of one of the best Jedi in the Order.

Wooley began to raise his blaster to start shooting again when Commander Cody physically lowered it with his own hand, “No, wait!”

Kisar breathed a sigh in relief at the Commander’s quick thinking. Any attacks would break the predators out of the Force mind control that Master Kenobi had them in.

Said Master kept creeping more and more backwards into the dead end of the alleyway. He might have been trying to box the animals in but Kisar didn’t know how he would stop them from leaving the same way they came in.

“Incredible.” Wooley whispered in wonder. Kisar nodded in agreement. Master Kenobi really was an incredible Jedi. She hoped she could be half as good as him someday.

“Quiet, rookie.” Commander Cody sharply snapped.

Master Kenobi yelled out with a strained voice, “Shoot the bridge!”

The clones obeyed and Kisar placed her hands over her ears in discomfort. She doubted it was good for anyone’s hearing to be around that much blaster fire.

She watched as the creatures snapped out of Master Kenobi’s control as expected and attacked him. The Jedi Master was too fast for them, however, and used an impressive Force jump to escape the box that he and the clones made for the animals to stayed trapped within.

Relief and exhaustion dually inhabited the demeanors of the clones surrounding Kisar once Master Kenobi made it safely to their side. Commander Cody handed the Jedi Master his lightsaber back as the Master smiled at him fondly and nodded his head in thanks. Kisar felt a warm feeling in her soul at the respect seen between the General and his soldiers.

The manhole cover right next to the assembled group of clones and Jedi broke the tranquility of the moment by moving and jerking as if someone were trying to enter the street from below. Several blasters and two lightsabers were ready to strike immediately in response to the movement.

"Don’t shoot." Master Kenobi placed his hand on Cody's blaster to keep him from immediately shooting whatever rose out of the hole. The Commander looked at him weirdly from underneath his bucket but obeyed.

Kisar's furry eyebrows rose in surprise when Waxer, Boil, and a small green Twi'lek girl climbed out of the manhole. She was not expecting that at all.

Commander Cody recovered from his confusion after a moment and sternly approached the two troopers. “Waxer! Boil! Where have you two slackers been?”

Boil’s gruff voice responded, “Sir, there is an explanation.”

Wacer’s softer tone helpfully added on, “We got sidetracked.”

The little Twi’lek girl took that moment as an opportunity to step into view. She had an innocent and bright smile on her face and was clutching Boil’s armor like he was a trusted friend or relative instead of some soldier she just met.

Master Kenobi smiled in return at the wholesome sight and stepped forward to the girl, “I think I see what sidetracked you.”

Kisar, never one to miss a chance to one-up someone, smugly turned to Commander Cody with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I told you there had to be someone left behind.”


	9. Chapter 9

Kisar watched the young Twi'lek girl, who Waxer and Boil introduced as Numa, speak with Master Kenobi in her native Twi'lek language. Kisar herself spoke Basic, Huttese, Durese, and some Rodese due to Nar Shadaa's diverse population but she never got the chance to learn Twi'leki. The Twi'leks she did meet on Nar Shadaa all spoke Huttese and had been descended from slaves themselves just like the Cathar she lived with.

Master Kenobi seemed to be planning to use the girl to find a way to discretely rescue the Twi'leks. "The girl can lead us through the tunnel to the prisoners."

He turned to his Commander, "Cody, we're going to need a diversion."

With that, Kisar prepared to follow after Cody as she had been doing ever since she landed on Ryloth. A strong hand on her shoulder stopped the Padawan in her tracks. She turned to make eye contact with her Master. The man's brilliant blue eyes were duller than usual and a regretful look was upon his gentle face.

"My new Padawan, I fear I have failed you as a Master already."

Kisar furrowed her eyebrows, "Master Kenobi, the only way you could fail me is by dying and leaving me alone like Master Hosep did." Her voice turned bitter at the end. She knew Master Hosep didn't fight as hard as he could have against Spar. At his full strength, the legendary Jedi Master could have beaten the deceitful Mando, but the fight had left him and he abandoned Kisar instead.

Master Kenobi merely shook his head in disagreement, "This is no place for a child as young as you. Padawan Commander or not, you are too young to be in a battlefield like this. I will find a way to continue our training without putting your life in mortal danger." He hesitated before sadly murmuring, "You've had enough danger to last a lifetime already in the past two years."

Kisar wanted to argue and say she was capable of being with him on the battlefield but the memory of the sheer horror she experienced not that long ago when they landed held her tongue. 

"Yes, Master." She bowed her head in acceptance. 

***

Kisar never did well with droids or technology in general. She was always better at breaking stuff instead of building or fixing it. 

That was why she had no shame in sneaking up on a miserable battle droid lamenting about his cleaning job and slicing him in two with her lightsaber. 

She turned back to Master Kenobi, Waxer, Boil, and Numa and nodded her head to show she was ready. Master Kenobi nodded back and turned to Waxer and Boil. 

"I'll take care of this. You keep these two here." He ordered the the clones while passing off Numa from atop his arm to Waxer's arm. Kisar pouted when he also gestured to Boil to watch over her too. 

Kisar watched as her Master bounded up the stairs stealthily and peered over to analyze the situation with the hostages. After a few moments, the Jedi General waved for Waxer and Boil to join him. Kisar reluctantly stayed put with Numa. As much as she wanted to help her Master, she couldn't leave a child even younger than her alone in this case with a clear conscious. 

Her large pointed ears swiveled to pinpoint Cody's voice from afar, "There they are! Let's go!"

Blaster fire and the sound of tanks unloading their rounds started up and Kisar winced in sympathy. Cody may have been a jerk, but even he didn't deserve to get blown up by a tank. 

The Marshal Commander soon ordered his men to pull back but it was still enough time for Master Kenobi to free the Twi'leks using Cody's attack as a diversion as planned. Dozens of Twi'leks flowed down the stairs. They looked half-starved and terrified but they were wonderfully alive all the same.

The young Twi'lek girl and the young Cathar cub looked at the liberated Twi'leks with relief. Numa must have found someone she knew because she began to jump up and down in excitement and land in an adult Twi'lek man's arms. The man called out her name with raw joy and wrapped himself around her in obvious contentment.

Master Kenobi's voice broke Kisar's elation of seeing a family reunited, "Waxer, Boil, come with me."

Waxer shouted back, "We're with you, sir."

Kisar watched as the trio cut down or shot down droid after droid to get closer to a special looking tank. Master Kenobi got into the driver's seat and Waxer and Boil lifted the heavy ammo and set it into the tank. They worked together to take out four other Separatist tanks with their own weaponry. Kisar's mouth was open in shock in response to the destructive teamwork.

The teamwork was quickly ended by a Separatist tank that shot at the ammo canisters, causing the three to run away from the ensuing explosion. Master Kenobi was down on the ground, unmoving. Waxer and Boil were both groaning and twitching in pain. 

Numa wrenched herself from Kisar's grip and ran up the stairs at the sight of her clone friends hurt. Kisar wasn't the only one who chased after her. The Twi'leks also started yelling and charging the same droids that petrified them minutes before. 

Kisar watched in horror as Numa went after Master Kenobi after checking on Waxer and Boil. Master Kenobi was situated right in front of the tank that just attacked him and looked ready to do so again. 

The droid on top of the tank mechanically laughed, "You lose, General Kenobi."

Before he could shoot Numa and Master Kenobi, the angry Twi'leks came to their rescue and climbed the tank and threw the droid to the ground. Once there, they tore the previously smug droid to pieces with victorious cries. Kisar imagined the experience was therapeutic for them after being held captive for so long by those droids.

She was still next to Waxer and Boil so Kisar turned to give them a hand in getting back on their feet. 

She turned to Boil, the much less likable of the two, and tilted her head mockingly. Boil responded by physically bristling and Kisar could tell that she was walking on thin ice, but after the stressful day she had, she really didn't care. 

"Imagine that, Boil. You just got saved by a five-year-old civilian girl who was half-starved. Imagine what a ten-year-old could do. Even a shiny one." 

The man didn't respond for a few moments. His hands just kept clenching into fists and then unclenching. Kisar wondered if she was going to get punched, but luckily, Waxer put a hand on his shoulder to get him to relax.

Waxer then turned to her, "You're right, kid. We never should have doubted your knowledge on that gunship."

Kisar victoriously nodded, "No, you shouldn't have, but you were still at least a little right on some things. I am a kid, plain and simple. You two are combat experienced soldiers. It's ridiculous to ask you to not only respect me but to obey my orders too." She contemplated for a few seconds, "Maybe we can find some middle ground here?"

The two clones turned to each other and then back to her before repeating the process. Kisar snorted at their actions but began to get anxious for them to say something in response to her proposal. 

Surprisingly, it was Boil who answered her, "How about we have a more informal relationship in places like the mess hall but still have a normal Jedi and clone hierarchal relationship everywhere else for now?"

Kisar was almost too stunned to agree. She never thought they would go that far but she wasn't complaining. 

She managed to stutter out a simple yes to their answer and the Force signatures of the two clones brightened. 

Waxer held out his hand to shake in agreement, "So we're friends now?"

Kisar choked, "You actually want to be my friend?"

Waxer shrugged, "Why not? You don't want to be ours?" His voice was teasing but Kisar still almost tripped over herself in denying that last part. 

"No! I just....have never really.......really had a friend before." 

Her hesitance must have softened something in the two because they both removed their helmets and smiled at her reassuringly. 

Waxer even placed his hand upon her shoulder and gave it a few firm but comforting squeezes. 

"Well, allow us to be the first then."

***

Kisar watched as Waxer and Boil said goodbye to Numa. She had reunited with Master Windu and the stern Jedi offered her a stiff congratulations for getting through her first battle. Kisar thanked him softly but averted her eyes back to the two clones and the tiny Twi'lek. Numa was hugging them and obviously wanted them to stay. Kisar tsked sadly, Numa would likely never see the two again. 

Her hands were shaking as she walked with Master Kenobi and the rest of the 212th to go back to the Negotiator. Kisar's body seemed to be finally catching up with the events of the day. As she carefully stayed directly behind Master Kenobi so he wouldn't see her, Kisar let a few tears slip down her cheeks. She didn't dare audibly sob but she managed to silently cry all the same behind her messy hair. 

Kisar had just charged into battle with people that were basically strangers to her. 

Two Force presences appeared on either side of the shell-shocked Padawan. They were far too close to just be there by coincidence so Kisar reluctantly looked up from underneath her makeshift hair curtain to see Waxer and Boil marching alongside her. Feeling their inner strength and self-confidence in the Force lifted Kisar's spirits a bit. She sniffled a little miserably before wiping the back of her arm against her face to wipe away the tears and snot and looked up to see both of their helmeted heads swiveled to gaze down at her. Kisar could sense their concern so she shot them a grateful smile and straightened her posture. 

If this was what it was like to have friends, Kisar regretted never making the effort to be closer to her clanmates. She always occupied herself with training and studying. Kisar thought she was doing the right thing as a Jedi at the time, but now she realized she was only hurting and denying herself. Cathar were communal by nature, and apparently so were clones. Cathar Jedi, despite their propensity for anger, passion, and forming attachments, still managed to largely be successful and respected within the Jedi Order. Kisar just had to figure out how they did it first. If she were to break the rules in the Jedi Order, she might as well find a way to do it right. 

Kisar internally questioned what friends even did for each other. She remembered seeing some of the closer Cathar on Nar Shadaa give each other gifts. For people who had so little, it was a significant statement of love and care. Jedi and clones were similar in that regard, both had restricted freedom and possessions to their name. Hopefully Waxer and Boil would therefore enjoy a gift too. 

She just had to find a gift that suited the two. Something that should they be caught with it, won't get them in serious trouble, so that ruled out her first idea of finding a decent stripper to give the two a lap dance. She was told by Krisha that human males were all the same and loved a good lap dance, but that option was off the table. She didn't want to get them courtmartialed or anything so it had to be something safe and concealable. 

A lightbulb went off in the cub's head and Kisar turned her gaze back to the Twi'lek group waving them off. One little Twi'lek in particular caught her eye and Kisar gave a toothy grin at her sudden but brilliant idea. 

She just needed the money to buy the needed materials for the gift and as a Jedi, she had none to her name. If she were a good little Jedi, she would find a legitimate and rule-abiding way of attaining this gift. Kisar wasn't a very good Jedi at the moment so she instead went for the more fun route of getting money that she was more than experienced in: gambling.

A chuckle rumbled out of her chest before she could stop it. Waxer and Boil both gave her confused looks but she waved them off. Scheming had significantly lifted her spirits and Kisar found herself smiling all the way back to the Negotiator. 

She couldn't wait to arrive at Coruscant. 

***

Since Kisar's induction into Padawanhood was rushed and unorthodox, the Jedi Council called for her and Master Kenobi to return to Coruscant immediately after they were finished at Ryloth so that she may be properly welcomed back to the Jedi Order. The way there, Kisar found herself almost vibrating in excitement due to two factors: she was finally going to return to her original home and she was going to get a great gift for Waxer and Boil.

During their journey, Kisar spent more time getting to know her Master and meditating with him. She hadn't meditated in years so she was rusty but her Master seemed to have infinite patience in her. When she asked why he was so understanding, the human Jedi simply responded that he had taken a break himself from the Jedi Order around her age and knew what it was like to return after so long. 

After that cryptic answer, Kisar found her respect and fascination with the man increase and she made sure to listen carefully whenever he gave her advice. 

Kisar also got to know the clones of the 212th Battalion more. Cody was still the same jerk to her but she could tell he cared for his brothers at the very least. That didn't stop Kisar from being a little hellion around him sometimes though. 

Waxer and Boil kept to their word and maintained a balance of formality and friendship with her. The rules were usually simple, around certain clones and especially by themselves, Kisar was just a kid and the two clones were just normal humans. When certain clones, her Master, or non-clone Republic officers (nat-borns as Boil called them) were around, they would act as two soldiers and their respected Jedi Commander should. 

While Kisar loved getting to know the clones and her Master, she was still anxious to see Coruscant again for the first time in two long years. Her heart ached for the only home she knew for most of her life. 

When they arrived, Kisar wanted to kiss the dirty streets herself but she was told that would be undignified by her Master so she settled for simply taking a big breath of the familiar polluted air and sighing in bliss. 

She asked her Master if she could have a little time to reacquaint herself with the Jedi Temple before meeting with the Jedi Council. Her Master gave her a strange look but conceded nonetheless. Kisar shot him a thankful smile and even bowed to show him respect before slipping away. She just had to avoid the Jedi Temple Guards and make it outside and then she could make the money for Waxer and Boil's gift. 

Years of sneaking past the paranoid and itchy-trigger fingered population of Nar Shadaa helped Kisar immensely but she still struggled to not get caught. She swore that one of the Guards made direct eye contact with where she was in the shadows but luckily they eventually turned away and kept walking. She released a breath before finally slinking out of the Temple and into the streets of Coruscant. 

She didn't want to be on the upper levels though. Rules were at least outwardly adhered to there and she needed to go someplace sketchier that would let a little girl gamble. With that in mind, Kisar made her way down into the infamous lower levels of Coruscant. "Criminal" languages such as Huttese were heard more commonly and Kisar felt at peace in her second home: the crime controlled urban world.

After she found a seedy looking casino, Kisar strolled inside and sat down at a table of gawking Sabacc players. She flashed them a charming smile and boldly grabbed some cards for herself.

"Well, boys, who's ready to lose tonight?"


	10. Chapter 10

Smugness came off of Kisar's person in waves as she strolled back to the Jedi Temple with a much heavier bag than she left with. The casino goers and Sabacc players had no idea what hit them. She used her age and innocent appearance to give them a false sense of confidence and then proceeded to utterly destroy that confidence play by play.

Instead of sneaking back into the Jedi Temple in a manner similar to the way she stealthily left, Kisar decided that she could just walk in at that point. After all, she did tell Master Kenobi she wanted to tour the Temple, touring the inside _and_ the outside were perfectly excusable to Kisar. With a wave and nod to the stoic Temple Guards, she waltzed inside her childhood home with some extra baggage.

Kisar paused for a moment once she entered and activated her comm, "Master Kenobi, I seem to have forgotten where our rooms are situated once I entered the Temple." She admitted sheepishly. Navigation had never been Kisar's strong suit, she usually just kept heading in a direction until she found something close enough to what she was looking for.

A light chuckle sounded from her Master on the comm, "My young Padawan, I will come get you myself. We will stop at our rooms and then we will meet with the Council, they have been waiting for you to end your _tour._ "

Kisar gulped nervously but waited for her Master nonetheless. She tapped her foot anxiously on the ancient floors as the Temple Guards side-eyed her but remained silent. Dozens of Jedi passed by the Padawan while she waited. Kisar noticed that a large portion of them were Padawans. She remembered hearing from Master Kenobi that there was a surplus of Padawans due to the considerable amounts of Masters and Knights that have died since the beginning of the war in Geonosis.

Kisar observed that there were plenty of Padawans that were older and more experienced than her yet she was chosen to be Master Kenobi's apprentice. It did not make sense to the young Cathar cub and Kisar knew she had to get some answers from the Jedi Council.

Master Kenobi's confident stride could eventually be heard by Kisar's sensitive ears and she turned to see her Master's approaching form. Kisar waved to him and strode towards the Human Jedi. Several Jedi that she was previously observing were now returning the favor to her. Their gawking and questioning gazes burned into Kisar's back as she approached her new Master. She could tell what they were thinking. They were wondering how someone like her could be a Padawan to someone like Obi-wan Kenobi. 

Kisar's ears drooped without her realizing it and her Master raised his eyebrows in question. She averted her eyes and kept walking without enlightening him on her discomfort. Master Kenobi followed after her after a few moments but Kisar could sense his analytical mind trying to decipher her mood already. 

They eventually arrived at the Jedi High Council Tower. Kisar never recalled ever coming there as an Initiate. She had no idea what to expect from the Council members. She knew a couple of them but the rest were complete strangers to her. 

With a reassuring nod from her Master, Kisar entered the Council chambers. Twelve Jedi Masters, some physically there and some in hologram form, were looking at her. Kisar straightened her back and stepped forward more into their line of sight. 

Master Yoda smiled warmly at her, "Young Padawan Kisar, welcome you are." 

Kisar bowed and thanked him. Repressed Jedi manners were coming back full force at that moment in front of the powerful Jedi Masters. 

Master Windu, who was still on Ryloth at that time, nodded his head to Kisar, "I heard that you were a great help in finding the bounty hunter, Bort Gling, on Nar Shaddaa."

Kisar huffed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her neck in humility, "I just did what I could, Master. I may not have trained in a while at that point, but I still wanted to help."

"And help you did, my new Padawan." Master Kenobi assured from behind her. 

"Yeah, I guess I did." Kisar took a deep breath and gathered the inner strength necessary to question the Jedi Council, "I still don't know why I was assigned to Master Kenobi though."

The bantha in the room was finally addressed. 

Kisar didn't dare say anything else as the Jedi Masters all looked to each other as if to question themselves why they assigned her to Master Kenobi. It was a Nautolan Jedi that Kisar did not recognize who gently answered her, "Every Council member received a vision not long after you were rescued from Nar Shaddaa. You were still unconscious at the time, but we all saw a similar vision of you serving as Master Kenobi's Padawan and as a Commander for the 212th Attack Battalion."

Master Windu added, "There were no perceived shatterpoints in this vision. While the Council is....reluctant to send such a young and inexperienced Padawan out into the field, Master Kenobi assures us that you will spend much less time on the frontlines compared to most older Padawans."

Kisar exhaled in relief before she could stop herself. Many of the Jedi Masters in the room sent her amused yet wary looks. They truly did seem to be against the idea of sending her out as a Padawan because of how young she was. Kisar was touched by their concern, but she knew their concern would not stop them from following through with the vision that the Force sent them of her. 

There was an odd sensation in the back of Kisar's brain. A feeling kept bouncing around in her thoughts. Kisar sensed that the Jedi Council wasn't telling her the whole story. There was one crucial thing that they did not tell her. 

Kisar opened her mouth to ask the Council about that feeling when a strong wave of power flowed into her from the Force. Kisar wanted to gasp aloud, but realized she could not physically do anything as she was paralyzed from whatever hit her.

Two words reverberated in her head and soul. 

_Not yet._

_NOT YET._

_NOT YET!_

She was blind and deaf to any other sensation as the mantra repeated itself. 

As soon as it had entered her body, the powerful presence had left, leaving a shocked and flabbergasted Kisar to gather herself. She hesitantly looked around to see if any of the Jedi Masters noticed her predicament, but saw that they all were blissfuly unaware of what just happened. 

Her face must have revealed her stupor, because Master Yoda softly questioned Kisar, "Alright, are you, young Kisar?"

Twelve heads swiveled to look at Kisar and she ducked her head in self-consciousness before meekly asking to get some rest as she was suddenly tired. The Grandmaster of the Order hummed thoughtfully before he nodded his head and Kisar practically ran out of the chambers. 

Kisar had no idea what was going on.

And she was terrified.

***

Kisar groggily woke up to the feeling of a hand gently running through her mane of hair. Her crusty eyes sluggishly opened to the view of Master Obi-wan's smiling face. Kisar's memories of what happened before her nap flooded her mind and she groaned in frustration. She didn't know what happened in front of the Council. Maybe it was a hallucination? None of the other Masters sensed it and if her own Master didn't sense it while he was right next to her, then it must not have happened. 

Kisar turned to Kenobi to see if he sensed her thought process or realized something was off. The Jedi Master was lightly humming in blissful ignorance as he gently untangled the stubborn knots in her mane. Kisar sighed in relief. 

Kisar doubted she ever had experienced this intimacy yet it felt so familiar. Almost as if someone did the exact same thing for her years ago. She couldn't remember who and when though. It definitely wasn't Zoruk or Alorum, neither were very affectionate. It must have been her family. She did not remember them but Kisar desperately hoped that she could still make them proud, wherever they were.

With a groan, she sat up and Master Kenobi's fingers removed themselves from her tangles. Kisar shot him a sheepish look and stretched her arms and yawned noisily. Master Kenobi chuckled and stood up from the bed she collapsed on.

"I am surprised you managed to find this room, little one, what with the troubles you had earlier with navigation."

Kisar shrugged, "I just took random turns until I found a place that looked familiar."

Kenobi nodded and handed her some traditional Jedi robes. Kisar rose her eyebrows at the sight of them. She was not a fan of the overly flowing and ugly brown robes. She preferred her own clothing that blended in better with the general populace. Kisar already stuck out in most areas as a Cathar. Sticking out as a Jedi was even more dangerous and attention grabbing.

"Is there a way we could compromise on my outfit?" Kisar prodded hesitantly.

Master Kenobi simply shot her a mirthful look.

***

Kisar had already snuck out of the Jedi Temple that day, infiltrating the barracks on Coruscant where the 212th was staying was a piece of cake comparatively. The clone guards all had red markings on their armor. Kisar guessed they were specialized in guard duties judging by the fact that she had seen them all over Coruscant doing that very job.

Finding the barracks that the 212th was in was easily the hardest part. Kisar had to resort to dropping into a room unseen, looking around for a similar paint color on armor, then slipping out if she couldn't find it.

It took two hours before Kisar found the 212th. She spotted the clone named Wooley first and dropped down with a gleeful giggle. Wooley jumped and drew his blaster at Kisar before he realized who she was.

"Commander!" He gasped. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Kisar smirked, "Oh ya know, just wanted to drop in and say hi."

Wooley seemed to not appreciate the excellent pun she made. He stepped forward to Kisar and grabbed her arm and yanked her into the room he was just in. "Commander, you could get in some serious trouble by being here without authorization."

" _Whose_ authorization do I need then?" Kisar scoffed.

"Mine." An all too familiar voice grunted from behind them. Kisar jerked in surprise, she completely forgot that Cody would be lurking around. If Wooley hadn't been gripping the arm that wasn't holding her bag, Kisar would've face palmed. Of course, Commander _Poodoo_ would be there. It was his barracks for the time being after all.

Kisar slowly turned her head to look up into the furious eyes of Marshal Commander Cody. If that was what it looked like when Jango Fett was angry and murderous, Kisar was very glad she never met the infamous Jedi-killer. 

"I just wanted to deliver something, sir. I'll be on my way back to the Temple once I am done." Kisar made sure to sound extra formal to Cody, her time on Nar Shaddaa taught her that being a kiss-ass was an undignified yet rewarding practice when it was needed. Neither Zoruk nor Alorum agreed with her belief, but neither of them were there to stop her. 

Cody's hand gripped the helmet that he was holding at his side with enough strength for Kisar to actually hear it creak in protest. "You don't get to make deliveries. That's not your job. You could get some of my men in serious trouble if you delivered them something they should not have. Do you understand me?" 

Kisar nodded hastily, "Yes, sir!" She even saluted him but it must have been a bad salute cause Cody somehow looked angrier after she did it. 

Wooley still had a tight grip on her arm, but Kisar suspected he didn't realize he was still holding her prisoner. "Uhhh...Wooley?" His gaze shifted down to her. "You can let me go now."

The clone gaped and released her arm as if it was suddenly burning hot. Kisar couldn't help but snort at the sight of a grown soldier jumping away from a little cub like her. 

Her amusement quickly faded when Wooley's grip was replaced by Cody's, who was much less accommodating. The Commander was dragging her through the barracks. Kisar was just lucky that he hadn't commed Master Kenobi yet. 

"Wait! Cody! Stop!"

Amazingly, he did. Kisar didn't count it as a victory though because the Commander stopped to yell at her. 

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?!" Cody growled. 

"I don't but please, just wait! I need to do this!"

"Why? What could honestly be so important that you would sneak into the barracks?"

Kisar hesitated, Cody may have not been a big fan of her and was dedicated to the rules, but Kisar witnessed him showing genuine care for his men. 

"I'll take the fall for this, just promise me you won't get them in trouble." She pleaded.

Cody's eyes narrowed, "Who?"

Kisar lowered her gaze in shame, "I can't say. Just please trust me."

Cody actually laughed at that, "I barely know you, kid, and you're not even a brother. At least tell me why you are here."

"I was...was......was getting a gift for my....." She paused to consider if she really was going to admit it, "friends."

Cody's eyebrows rose in surprise. Kisar's words seemed to stump him. The intimidating Commander's glare was fading out into a considering look. Kisar squirmed under his gaze but knew she had to convince him to let her go, so she made sure to stay put and not struggle against his grip. 

"Waxer and Boil." Cody mumbled out in understanding. Kisar gasped. There was no way he could know! They had just become friends!

"How did you know?!" 

He smugly grinned at her response and Kisar groaned once she realized that she gave them all up by confirming his suspicions. This man was good, she'll give him that. 

"Please, don't be mad at them! I'll take the punishment instead!" She again pleaded. 

Cody stared at her for a few minutes, unblinking and analyzing. Kisar shrunk under his gaze but made sure to keep eye contact to show she was serious about her offer. Waxer and Boil did nothing wrong, it was all her fault. 

The grip on her arm loosened until it let go completely. Kisar winced at the tender feeling that was left in its wake but wisely kept quiet. 

"Will the gift hurt them or is it dangerous to anyone else in my battalion?" The Marshal Commander interrogated her. 

Kisar shook her head no immediately and was about to verbally respond but Cody lifted up a hand to signal that she was to remain silent. She huffed but obeyed his wordless command. 

He turned around and started walking back the way they came, "Come with me if you want to deliver the gift to those two."

Kisar's mouth was hanging open with shock as she followed him in a daze. Out of all the people she was expecting to be able to convince to let her into the barracks, Cody was the least likely candidate on her list. The Commander had always been hard on her yet right now he was showing her some compassion and understanding. Kisar may never truly comprehend how that man's mind worked. 

After a couple of minutes of walking, Cody led her to the entrance to the main sleeping area of the barracks. Kisar was about to enter when he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. The Commander shook his head gravely before walking inside himself and shouting for Waxer and Boil to come out and follow him. Kisar realized he was trying to pass off the gift in a more discreet setting for the sake of everyone involved. Her begrudging respect and gratitude for him increased. 

Once the two came out, they both visibly jumped at the sight of Kisar but Cody shushed them before they could say anything. Waxer and Boil dutifully followed their two Commanders into a secluded area that appeared to be responsible for storing food for the battalion. 

Kisar was roughly pushed closer to the two by Cody who made a "get on with it" motion. Kisar gulped before reaching into her bag and withdrawing the gifts she bought for Waxer and Boil. Both men choked on air once she revealed to them what was in the bag. 

"These are your gifts." Kisar mumbled out, "It's a thank you....for being my friends."

Waxer laughed breathlessly at that. "You didn't have to do that, kid."

Kisar shook her head in denial, "But I wanted to. I never have had friends before."

Boil, who had been silent the entire time, looked at Kisar questioningly, "Why did you get us a long-range civilian hologram communication system? And what is stored in that datapad?"

Kisar rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, "I bought the hologram system for you to contact Numa. I found her uncle's info while on the _Negotiator_ and logged it into this system for you to call her on. The datapad is stored with a _Ryl_ language learning program for you and Waxer to learn to speak to Numa and her uncle."

She kicked at the ground with the toe of her new Jedi-issued boots, "I just thought you guys would like it. You don't have to take it if you don't want it." 

Waxer and Boil looked at each other before looking at Cody behind her for permission. The Commander nodded his head in approval but remained silent. 

Waxer grinned and stepped forward to take the datapad and Boil took the communication system. They both appraised their gifts before turning back to Kisar and ruffling her mane. Kisar squeaked in indignation and tried to swat their hands away. They chuckled but stopped messing with her hair.

Boil grunted out, "And here I thought the Twi'lek's language would be called something like _Twi'leken_." Kisar giggled at his response, she knew it was his way of saying thank you. 

Waxer scoffed, " _Puh-lease_ , I thought it would have been called _Twi_ or something like that. _Twi'leken_ sounds ridiculous!"

To Kisar's surprise, Cody responded to Waxer with his own banter, "You both are morons, it should have been called _Twi'leki_."

Kisar coughed into her fist to hide her laughter, "Actually, Commander Cody is the closest. I thought the same thing cause I heard that was a language for Twi'leks. It is, but Ryl is the verbal form of communication, Twi'leki is the physical motions Twi'leks do with their head-tails apparently. I read it on the brochure for the program."

Both Waxer and Boil groaned while Cody snickered. 

Kisar was eventually escorted back out of the barracks by Cody. They didn't speak the entire time. Kisar was desperately trying to find a way to thank the man for his leniency, but the words never exited her mouth. 

Finally, they made it to the exit and both stopped. Kisar knew that it was now or never so she hesitantly tapped the side of Cody's armored bicep. He turned to her with an expectant look on his face. Cody likely knew what she was trying to say to him, the over-observant jerk. 

"I just want to say.." Cody's eyebrows rose in anticipation. Kisar swallowed down some nausea, she hadn't had a heartfelt conversation like this with anyone in years and having the first person be Cody was not helping. 

"I want to say thanks." She whispered out so low she actually doubted if Cody did hear her words. Thankfully, the Commander nodded in response and waved off her gratitude. 

"No need to thank me, kid. You did a good thing for my men and I think it'll help moral anyways." He said that as if it explained everything. 

Kisar still sighed in relief and nodded to him in thanks again. "I really owe you one, Commander."

She was about to head to the Temple when Cody's voice stopped her steps, "Oh, and Kisar?" She shivered at the sound of her name, he never called her that. "We'll be even once you explain to me where you got the money to buy those gifts."

Kisar chuckled nervously and basically ran back to the Temple. There was the Commander she knew and feared. 

***

** Translations **

_Poodoo:_ fodder (a common swearword in Huttese)


	11. Chapter 11

21 Years Before the Battle of Yavin and 979 Years After the Ruusan Reformation

  
Kisar had been resigned to merely staying on the _Negotiator_ for most battles and missions. Master Kenobi seemed extra careful to have her avoid combat after the Battle of Ryloth. Kisar understood his concern but it pained her to remain relatively safe on the _Negotiator_ while her Master and the clones fought for the Republic and put themselves in danger.

Battle after battle on planets like Felucia and Geonosis were raged while Kisar helplessly watched from the sidelines. Waxer and Boil were both unabashed in how pleased they were that Kisar stayed out of harm’s way. Kisar was unabashed in how upset she was whenever those two would come back wounded from battle or would have eyes full of horror and grief from the loss of their brothers. She did her best to comfort or distract the two but Kisar was unable to completely erase the mental wear and tear her friends felt as active combat soldiers.

She was powerless and it was killing her. Waxer and Boil kept getting hurt and she couldn't do anything about it. Cody, as much as Kisar despised him, was someone she also wanted to help. The 212th, who she had slowly gotten to know more and more, were men that Kisar considered to be under her protection even though Waxer and Boil told her that they viewed _her_ as someone to protect. Clones usually had a soft spot for Padawans because of long suppressed paternal instincts that the Kaminoans pretended didn’t exist.

Kisar wanted to scream into the void and demand that she be allowed to help her friends instead of watching their spirit fade away.

Unknown to Kisar, her wishes were about to granted.

***

Kisar watched from the windows of the _Negotiator_ as the 212th Attack Battalion and her Master fought against Separatist forces on the planet of G'Loc. Admiral Block stoically stood beside her as he ordered around the clone officers. Kisar had a neutral relationship with the Admiral, she made sure to stay out of his way and not bother the man, and Admiral Block expressed his gratitude by not picking on her as some nat-born officers were known to do to Padawans.

Most of the action was occurring on the planet below but there was a singular Separatist droid squadron that was dancing around their ship with a few clone pilots chasing them down. The _Negotiator_ almost seemed tranquil with the clone officers around them feeling bored in the Force instead of concerned like they usually were in a space battle.

Kisar sensed that Admiral Block was disturbed at the sight, but she didn't know why yet. She couldn't ask either as they had an unspoken agreement to not address each other unless absolutely necessary. Admiral Block didn't talk much to the clone officers either, he wasn't the kind of narrow-minded officer who believed clones were beneath him, Kisar just assumed that he was a reserved man.

The Admiral's High Coruscanti accent rang through the room, "Contact General Kenobi. Something is not right here."

A few of the clone officers obeyed and began to press buttons on their devices to reach Kenobi. Kisar faintly heard their exclamations of confusion as their attempts failed. A chill went down the Padawan's spine, nothing good had ever happened to Kisar after communications go down.

"Sir!" One of the officers called out, "Our communications are jammed."

Admiral Block frowned, "Who could possibly be doing that? I don't see a ship with that capability. I only see those small droid fighters."

As if in response to his question, another clone officer pointed and yelled, "Sir! Unidentified ships have just arrived!"

Kisar felt dread as she watched the fleet of ships appear from hyperspace. They didn't look like the usual Republic or Separatist cruisers and fighters, but there was something familiar about them that Kisar couldn't quite place.

"Just brilliant," Admiral Block muttered beside her before bellowing out to the surrounding clones to get ready for an attack.

The Human Admiral also turned to Kisar before ordering for her to be escorted back to her quarters. Kisar wanted to object but after a stern look from Block was directed towards her, she kept her mouth shut and followed two troopers to her quarters.

The alarms were blaring as Kisar was rushed back to her and Master Kenobi's shared room. She could sense the anxiety from the troopers beside her. The _Negotiator_ was no longer as safe as Master Kenobi wanted it to be for her.

She was promptly shoved into the room and the troopers stationed themselves outside of her doorway in order to form a protective barrier. For what felt like hours, Kisar paced and waited for any sign of the unexpected space battle to finish. No sign came and the whole cruiser radiated fear in the Force. Kisar did not know what was happening, but she knew it wasn't good.

The sounds of blaster fire grew louder and louder as some intruders apparently breached the ship and made their way inside to attack the clones. Kisar sucked in a breath and ignited her lightsaber in preparation for something to invade her quarters. The doorway opened to reveal the two troopers standing there, it must have been safe enough for her to leave now. Kisar sighed in relief and was about to deactivate her blade until she saw the bodies of the clones drop to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Kisar gasped when the same man who haunted her nightmares stepped into her room over the corpses of the men he killed. His blaster was still smoking from the barrel and the light from the hallway illuminated his new and improved Mandalorian armor. Kisar whimpered when she saw that the infamous Mandalore's Mask had replaced his common Mandalorian helmet. He truly did look like the crusaders who slaughtered her people now with that helmet upon his head.

Kisar tried to keep her voice steady but she knew it still wobbled with fear as she addressed her old enemy, "Spar."

The former Bounty Hunter turned _Manda'lor_ tilted his helmet in acknowledgment, "It's been a while, _Jet'ika_."

***

Commander Cody was bored. He never thought he could be bored on the battlefield but he was. The battle droids before him were all giving a lackluster performance that almost made the Marshall Commander yawn behind his helmet. There were very few casualties in the 212th and he could swear he saw General Kenobi taking the time to practice some lightsaber moves he hadn't used in a while.

The General was flipping and using overly dramatic spins to take out the droids before him. Cody remembered his General stating that he used to use a form of lightsaber combat that relied on speed and agility but abandoned it for the form of Soresu. General Kenobi was now one of the most feared and respected Jedi in the Republic so Cody thought that it was a good switch on Kenobi's part.

His General's energetic movements and attacks were stopped dead in their tracks and Cody watched the man clutch his forehead in pain. The Commander jerked and ran towards his Jedi.

"Sir! What's wrong?"

General Kenobi turned to Cody with a grim look on his face, "Cody, something terrible just happened."

To Cody's confusion, his General looked up to the sky above them, where the _Negotiator_ was. That didn't make any sense to Cody, the _Negotiator_ was engaging in a laughably small space battle last he heard, what could have went wrong?

Cody looked up to the sky as well just in time to catch the sight of explosions and cursed. The _Negotiator_ was being attacked while they were occupied with the droids below.

Cody frowned and made eye contact with his General. Kenobi had his teeth bared in a snarl as he ordered the soldiers around them to finish the battle as soon as possible. Cody had never seen his General so openly worried before and was confused about why he was so worried until he remembered who was on the cruiser above them.

He growled in frustration and would later quietly admit that he felt a little concern too.

The kid was up there.

***

Kisar needed to find a way out of this room and fast. Spar didn't attack the _Negotiator_ just to chat after all, he was there to kill her. To finish the job he started two years ago and to get revenge on her for setting him on fire.

Kisar had very few advantages at that moment and needed to use what little she had to escape her situation. Spar was bigger, stronger, and more skilled. She was smaller, more agile, and knew the inside of the Negotiator like the back of her hand at that point despite her navigational struggles. She wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight with Spar so Kisar decided to do the next best thing: run.

Spar unfortunately wasn’t the monologuing type so Kisar didn’t have a lot of time before he would pull the trigger. She knew there was a vent that she could fit into right above her bed that was covered by curtains. If she could distract him efficiently enough, she could disappear into the vent without Spar knowing where she went. She could then get to a safer area and wait for Master Kenobi to come. He had to have noticed that something was up by that point.

Kisar noticed that the bodies were placed directly behind Spar’s boots. If she managed to push him hard enough with the Force, he would trip over the dead clone troopers and not be able to see where she left.

Kisar’s sensitive ears picked up the sound of more booted men arriving. Judging by the sound of their heavy footfall, they were adorned with much heavier armor than a standard clone trooper was so they were Mandalorians that came with Spar. She had to make her move now or she would never get another chance.

Spar’s helmet swiveled ever so slightly to signify his attention shifted to the approaching Mando warriors, that second of attention averted from Kisar was all she needed. The Cathar Padawan released as powerful of a Force push as she could manage toward the _Manda’lor_. Spar grunted in surprise and was launched across the hallway and tripped over the bodies of the troopers that he killed. Kisar bounced off the wall right next to her to land directly into the vent on the other side.

She shimmied as fast as she could to the cruiser’s bridge. Hopefully Admiral Block and some other soldiers were holed up there.

After a few minutes of crawling in the cramped space, she heard the familiar sound of astrogation computers whirring from the bridge. Kisar was just about to unscrew the lid of the vent to enter the bridge when she heard male voices speaking Mando’a. Kisar desperately wished she took the time to learn the language. Master Kenobi offered to teach her once but she denied, she didn’t want to learn the language of her people’s enemies. She was regretting that decision now.

Kisar peeked through the openings of the vent to see the bodies of the clone officers and of Admiral Block scattered across the bridge and were replaced by their Mandalorian killers. The bridge had been effectively taken over by Spar and his men. Kisar internally cursed. She couldn’t be the only one left alive on the ship, there had to be some allies for her somewhere.

With that thought she turned around and explored the vents some more. After checking several places and areas, Kisar was about ready to give up until she made it to a part of the ship she had never been to before. Kisar realized that she was near where the ship’s hyperdrive was and also near the reactor core. Kisar had never taken to mechanics and therefore had never saw reason to travel to that part of the ship.

Through the Force, Kisar could sense dozens of lifeforms ahead of her. This was the last stop she knew of in the ship. If these lifeforms were also Mandalorians then Kisar was truly alone on the _Negotiator_.

After a deep breath, Kisar once again peeked through the openings of the vent to see who was below her. Instead of the intimidating Mandalorian armor she had gotten accustomed to seeing, Kisar saw the uniforms of clone technicians and civilian contractors. All of the clone technicians were armed with blasters and had them pointed at the entrance of the common room they had hidden in. The civilians were mostly sequestered to the far back of the room in order to allow the technicians to protect them. There were a few civilian contractors who had armed themselves as well and were standing alongside the clones too.

Kisar grinned, she finally found some survivors. Without thinking of it, she Force pushed the vent opening off with a loud bang to announce her arrival and hopped down into the room. Kisar had several blasters trained on her before she even hit the ground. The Padawan raised her hands in the universal surrender symbol and stepped forward out of the shadows so that the survivors could see that she was a Jedi and not some tiny Mandalorian warrior.

Kisar put on her best charming smile and walked closer to the group.

“Don’t shoot! I’m a survivor like you.”

The clones and civilians lowered their guards and blasters equally.

One technician stepped forward to her, “What are we going to do, Commander?”

Kisar looked over the group of survivors a second time with a calculating gaze. Every clone had combat training but these clones were still technicians, not troopers. Waxer and Boil called them “soft-shells” who were useful for fixing and maintaining ships, but less dangerous compared to most other clone soldiers. Spar and his men had already killed the combat troopers so they were all she had.

The civilians were also an issue. Most of them had no combat training whatsoever and probably had never even held a blaster. The few that did, however, looked determined and capable enough to be a potential boon to Kisar.

Kisar blew her hair out of her face in frustration. She had successfully avoided leading and responsibilities in general up until this moment and this was not a great first-time for her to finally lead some men into battle. She had little battle experience herself and was a well above average fighter amongst her peers, which would have been impressive if she wasn’t ten-years-old. She was an inexperienced Commander with a couple dozen technicians and contractors with combat skills ranged from adequate to non-existent. They didn’t stand a chance in a direct attack against Spar and his veteran Mando warriors, but they might just stand a chance if they used their combined knowledge of the _Negotiator_ to stage a series of sneak attacks against the invaders.

Kisar grunted in reluctant amusement, if she made it through this, she would have quite a story to tell.

The Jedi-in-training turned to the assembled survivors and spoke with as much confidence as she could muster.

“We are going to get these wannabe crusaders off of our ship.”

One of the civilians gasped, “And how are _we_ going to do that?!”

Kisar smirked and revealed her sharp predatory teeth, “We fight.”

***

Translations

_Manda’lor_ : word that Mandalorians and some non-Mandalorians use for the leader of Mandalore.

_Jet’ika_ : little Jedi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I got the Mando’a translations correct but let me know if I made any errors in the language or in Huttese for other chapters.


	12. Chapter 12

Kisar was many things: reckless with her own life, stubborn, directionally challenged, and lacking in common sense at times, but she was not completely stupid. With the limited resources she had, Kisar had to strategize a way to push back Spar enough to the point where he either had to retreat and return to his ship or outright surrender. The later was the best case scenario and also the most implausible. Mandalorians weren't the surrendering type, especially when their _Manda'lor_ was involved.

After quickly learning the names and abilities of the gathered survivors, Kisar came to the conclusion that she could create multiple strike teams to attack at once and take Spar off guard. There were twenty combat capable clones and civilians who were to split into teams of four and head to different parts of the ship in order to regain control of the _Negotiator_ through force.

The technicians were going to make up for their lesser combat abilities compared to the Mandos by utilizing their knowledge of the _Negotiator._ Switch, the clone technician who struck Kisar as the most capable of the group, gave the idea of strategically locking the doors of their ship in order to herd the Mandalorians into an area where they would be sitting ducks such as in the hangar bay.

Kisar nodded in agreement and stroked her chin while she analyzed the validity of their plan. A habit she picked up from her Master. Kisar just hoped she picked up the same brilliant military tactics of Master Kenobi too.

She turned back to the assembled temporary soldiers. A few contractors had stayed behind with two of them having enough blaster proficiency to arm themselves and stand guard. Kisar was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving civilians so unprotected, but in their situation, they needed all the fighters they could get.

Kisar signaled for them to separate into their strike teams and gave them a grim nod as they headed to their respective destinations. She was on her own for her destination. When the Mandalorians would be surprise attacked and herded into the hangar bay, Kisar would have a devastating surprise attack of her own to welcome them with.

***

Cody could practically feel the tension and worry in his men as they destroyed the remaining battle droids. Such a victory would usually bring a lot of joy, but with their Jedi Commander being attacked on the _Negotiator_ above with none of them there to protect her, none of the 212th were in a good mood.

General Kenobi had already contacted Oddball to bring back the ships necessary to head back to the _Negotiator._ Once the droids were taken care of, the 212th would be rushing back to their cruiser to rescue their Commander.

They just had to keep pressing on.

They were so close.

So close.

***

Kisar had made it to the hangar bay and was setting up the grenades she scavenged from the various armored bodies-clone trooper and Mandalorian- in order to blow up the enemy ships parked there.

Spar would have nowhere to go and if she timed the explosion right, he and his warriors would go down with their ships once they were pushed back to them.

Kisar noticed that there were two Mandolorians standing guard over the small shuttles used to board the _Negotiator_. She would have to be careful not to be noticed by them when she set up the explosives. If they reported that something was up to Spar, he wouldn't think the hangar was safe enough to retreat to and ruin their plan.

Before she would be within earshot of the two Mandalorians, Kisar activated her wrist comm and whispered, "Leader One in position."

Switch's voice responded first, "Team Two in position."

The civilian contractor named Tara Notroni added, "Team Three in position."

Three more groups responded as well from their areas of the ship,

"Team Four in position."

"Team Five in position."

"Team Six in position."

Kisar remembered a holodrama of an overdramatic and unrealistic action hero named Bruton that she watched with a reluctant Alorum, the gorgeous and rugged Zabrak mercenary would give his signature catchphrase of "Bring the hurt!" before causing some serious damage on whatever villain would try to take over the galaxy that week. Kisar remembered thinking he was so cool and wanted to say the same thing in a dangerous situation like he did every episode. She probably would die soon, but she could at least have some fun in her last moments.

Kisar was beaming like a hungry nexu as she fulfilled her childhood dream, "Alright men, bring the hurt."

The other teams gave their affirmatives and switched off their comms in order to start their attacks.

Kisar herself stealthily snuck past the Mandalorian guards and started to deposit the grenades all around the two shuttles. Judging by the size and number of shuttles, there were probably around thirty Mando warriors aboard the _Negotiator_ , if the much larger 212th hadn't been occupied with the battle below on G'Loc, Spar and his men would have been creamed no matter how skilled they were. Though that was probably what Spar was planning all along, keep the veterans busy planetside and the cruiser would be all the more easy to conquer.

An accented and unfamiliar voice gruffly called out in Basic, "Did you hear that?"

Kisar silently hissed and slid completely out of sight of the two guards. She knew it wasn't her that they heard, it was the sound of the grenades activating as she placed them all over the ships. She had hoped the droning sounds of the ship's engines would mask the ticking of the grenades, but her plan was on the verge of backfiring terribly.

Another voice responded back in Mando'a, it didn't sound inquisitive like the other did, it sounded frustrated. Kisar hoped that meant that the man who spoke in Mando'a was annoyed with how the paranoid the other man was, but she could only wait and hold her breath.

After a heated back and forth between the two, it seemed that they both were actually going to start looking for the origin of the sound in order to humor the paranoid one. Kisar bared her teeth and prepared to ignite her lightsaber in order to defend herself. She made sure the grenades were hard to spot up close, but if they looked hard enough, the grenades would be found and Kisar would likely be found as well.

One gauntleted hand grabbed at the space right above where she had hidden herself in the ship's landing gear. She was still concealed from that angle, but all it would take for her to be revealed would be for that same hand to reach a little lower.

Just when Kisar thought she was about to be found out, the blaring of sirens once again went off in the _Negotiator_ followed by several explosions that rocked the ship. The hand that was above her withdrew and Kisar heard curses in both Mando'a and Basic as the two men ran back to their original guard spots in front of the ships.

She heard Spar's rough voice through one of their comms, "Is the hangar bay still clear?"

Kisar almost expected them to say no after her close call but the two men seemed to remain ignorant to her presence and the grenades, "Yes, sir. There have been no signs of the Jedi or of anymore troopers."

"Good. We are being pushed back from several different areas on the ship. The bridge has been retaken by Republic troopers. They're shutting the doors down in several hallways in order to prevent a counterattack on our end, we may have to regroup in the hangar bay if this continues."

The man who previously only spoke in Mando'a responded, "We'll be ready, _Manda'lor_."

 _So will I_ , Kisar thought smugly.

They just had to keep pressing on.

They were so close.

So close.

***

Cody watched his General pace as they finally ended the battle and were preparing to enter their gunships and return to the _Negotiator._ The normally composed man looked haggard as he stroked his beard in thought. Cody frowned, it wouldn't help his men to see their CO so worried.

"General," The man's eyes darted over to the Commander, "Kisar has dealt with clankers before. There are plenty of capable men onboard the _Negotiator_ as we speak. I'm sure she'll still be okay when we arrive."

"It's not clankers that I am worried about, Cody."

Cody narrowed his eyes, "What is it then, sir?"

"I fear that Spar may have finally realized Kisar is not dead. The Jedi Council knew this would happen eventually, especially after she was assigned to a Jedi Master as well-known as myself. This kind of diversion tactic was something I had seen before on Mandalore a long time ago. I suspected him ever since I found out that the _Negotiator_ was under attack while we were planetside."

The tension amongst his men increased exponentially. They all knew the story of how Kisar barely survived an encounter with the traitorous ARC trooper by using her wits and setting him ablaze. Cody could see why Spar would be so determined to exact his revenge on the Padawan almost three years later.

Cody placed a comforting hand on his General's shoulder, an action he never would have done a year ago as a much more stiff clone officer. He could feel the man relax a bit but caught the rigid postures of his men around them, especially Waxer and Boil. They were out for the _Manda'lor's_ blood. Spar may have been a brother at one point in time, but he was no brother to them now. He was a traitor and a Jedi-killer and was therefore very high on the 212's kill list.

When they did get to the _Negotiator,_ Cody almost pitied what would happen to Spar.

Almost.

***

Kisar could hear the sounds of various warriors approaching. They were being chased by Teams Three, Four, Five, and Six as planned and being pushed back to the hangar bay through Team Two's control of which doors opened and which were closed. Spar and his men had no choice but to keep moving towards their ships. Kisar drew away from the ships after being given the sufficient distraction and prepared to press the detonation button and blow the Mandos to pieces.

Her breath caught when the _Manda'lor_ arrived into the hangar. He looked significantly more angry than the last time she saw him a few hours ago. He was yelling at his men for being taken off guard by some clone technicians and contractors. Kisar could understand how that would be embarrassing for him, but she had no pity to offer. Her idea of using both the element of surprise as well as their knowledge of the ship to counterbalance the skill and numbers of the Mandalorians actually worked. 

Spar and his men were getting so close to the ships, Kisar could activate the grenades now and hurt them but she wouldn't be able to take out enough of them at that distance in order to cause Spar to order a full retreat. It didn't look like Spar and his men were going to get any closer to the ships anytime soon so Kisar may have to press the detonation button now and work with what she's got.

She was about to do just that when she felt the sickening feeling of a blaster being pressed against the back of her skull. Kisar gulped but made sure the detonator was hidden from her assailant's view.

A voice coldly demanded from behind her, "Turn around."

Kisar slowly did so and faced the Mando. To her surprise his helmet was off to reveal a handsome young face and blonde hair. He had nothing of the rugged features that Spar did. If Kisar didn't have a blaster pointed at her, she'd have been taking her sweet time shamelessly enjoying the view.

She was pushed and nudged down the staircase she previously climbed up in secret and was finally given one last shove into the open hangar. Several helmeted heads turned to her including Spar.

The _Manda'lor_ stalked over to where she had sprawled over the ground after being pushed. Kisar wanted to curl up into the fetal position at his boots and pretend he wasn't there watching her.

Hearing Spar's voice disturbed Kisar even more now that she knew other clones. She could never imagine Waxer or Boil threatening her, but a voice identical to theirs rang out and gave her the horrifying feeling of what it would be like to be the enemy of the other clones.

"Good, Fenn. Did she give you any trouble?"

"No, Spar. I took her by surprise and brought her here. She didn't put up a fight." The pretty man's name was Fenn then. Kisar would remember to research into that name in order to learn more about Spar's fighting force and men, if she survived that is.

Kisar was startled by the feeling of Spar's hand roughly gripping her chin and forcing her to look into the visor of his helmet. The helmet no longer gave him an air of mystery. Kisar intimately knew the face behind that helmet now.

"I remember how you begged for me to give you and your clan mercy on the shuttle almost three years ago. You were even more little and even more defenseless than you are now, yet you managed to temporarily defeat me. Truly, once I had recovered enough from my burn wounds, I felt genuine respect for you."

Kisar's eyebrows drew together in confusion, why was he praising her?

His hand tightened around her face and Kisar choked in pain, "I also remember the intense agony I went through after you dropped that fuel on me and poor old Hosep used his last dying breath to set me on fire. My armor was ruined and I was still recovering from the wounds all over my body that left me immobile in some places. You managed to effectively destroy my young bounty hunting career in one devastating blow."

Kisar struggled to get words out between her captive jaws in his grip, "I was just defending myself from a _monster_! I was a child! I still am a child!"

She felt some of the Mando shift uncomfortably in the hangar after she said that. Maybe some Mandalorians did have a conscience and soft spot for kids like Master Hosep claimed after all.

Spar spat out, "You are a _Jetii_. There are no children or families amongst your cursed kind! Your Order destroys childhoods and takes younglings away from their own families."

Kisar groaned at the ache blossoming across her face from the prolonged pressure but managed to keep her eyes locked onto Spar's helmet. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of averting her eyes in pain or fear.

Suddenly a gloved finger mockingly stroked the fur on her cheek. "I almost couldn't believe that the Jedi Order would send such a young cub out into the battlefield but I suppose they weren't given much of a choice with me in charge now. The timing of a Fett _Manda'lor_ and a Cathar Jedi is too exceptional for them to ignore and keep you safe within the temple any longer."

Kisar had no idea what he was talking about. Why would the fact that she's a Cathar and he's a Fett _Manda'lor_ change the Council's decision.

Spar saw the confusion in her eyes and actually laughed. A full body laugh that caused him to take off the Mandalore's Mask and wipe at his eyes. "The Jedi didn't tell you did they?"

Kisar growled, "Tell me what?"

Spar smirked down at her with Waxer and Boil's face, "Did you ever bother to ask why there hasn't been a Cathar Jedi in well over a thousand years?"

Kisar was shocked to realize there actually hadn't been a Cathar Jedi in over a thousand years. The Cathar may have not been the most numerous species after the genocide but they should've had at least a few Jedi amongst them over the years. They were notoriously loyal to the Jedi Order even if they weren't a formal part of the Republic anymore.

She was about to ask Spar again what he meant until her Strike Teams entered the hangar and interrupted her train of thought. They shouldn't be there! They were supposed to wait for her to blow the Mandos to bits.

Spar and his men turned and drew their weapons. The man behind her had one blaster in one hand pointed at Kisar and the other pointed at the technicians and contractors.

Kisar cursed, she didn't want to lose her men. They would surely get defeated in an open firefight with the Mandalorians. She still had the detonator hidden in her ridiculously big Jedi sleeves but if she pressed it now, it wouldn't kill enough of the Mandos to be safe and she would be caught in the blast too.

A few of the technicians had already been shot down and she watched them gradually retreat back into the hallways as they were pushed back by the vicious onslaught of blaster fire. They would all be dead anyways, might as well have it be on their terms.

Kisar sighed and pressed the button.

The deafening blast drove her into the nearby wall but thankfully she was not hit with any large shrapnel. Ironically Spar and the man named Fenn protected her by standing between her and the ships and having their armored bodies take the shrapnel instead.

Her head swam after she landed head first into the wall. She probably had a serious concussion and needed immediate medical attention but the Mandalorians were not off the ship yet. She had to keep pressing on.

With a grunt, Kisar lifted herself up and scanned the damage caused by the blast. The hangar itself was sparking and scuffed up, but still seemed full functional. The Mandalorians had received massive casualties. A few were unmoving but most seemed to only sustain injuries and were still capable of fighting. 

She needed to find another way to get them out while they were still stunned on the ground from the blast. Kisar averted her eyes around the hangar and saw that near the entrance from the hallways, there was a bright red button that was responsible for lifting the shields in the hangar bay. If she or someone else pressed that button, the hangar bay would open and the Mandalorians and what was left of their shuttles would be sucked out into the vacuum of space. It wouldn't kill most of them as they all had their helmets on after putting them back on after the blast, but it would force them to use their jetpacks to return to their own cruiser. 

Kisar activated her comm after making eye contact with what was left of Teams Three, Four, Five, and Six in the hallway. "Open the hangar bay and keep it open until the Mandos are all out!"

Tara Notroni yelled back, "But Commander! You'll be sucked into space with them!"

Kisar hissed, "Don't worry about me! Just do it!"

Notroni gave one last grim look at Kisar across the hangar before slamming her fist on the button and causing the shields to shut off. The powerful feeling of the vacuum of space sucking her out of the ship was halted by Kisar's claws scrapping the side of the walls in order to slow herself down long enough to stay within the _Negotiator_. 

She felt like her arms were about to be ripped from their sockets as she held on for her life. Her claws were losing their grip on the walls and were starting to detach. Kisar didn't have much longer before she would be forced into the cold darkness of space. 

After what felt like an eternity, Kisar heard the shields reactivate again and she fell to the ground once the suction abruptly halted. She groaned in pain as the injuries she had sustained over the last few hours finally caught up with her. She felt like she should have been mush from all the blows at that point. 

Kisar was gingerly picked up and taken to the Medbay by some clone technicians. A medical droid began to treat her various wounds as she slipped into unconsciousness. 

***

Kisar woke to the sensation of fingers gently running through her mane. Her eyes opened to spot Waxer and Boil on each side of the bed she was on in the Medbay. Waxer had been the one gently petting her and was humming a soothing tune under his breath too. 

Kisar groaned and tried to get up, but was carefully forced back down by Boil. She shot him a look and opened her mouth to argue with him but the sight of his red-rimmed eyes stopped her. Both he and Waxer looked terrible. 

Before she could ask them what was wrong her Master walked into the Medbay and to her bed. He too looked terrible, but was better at hiding it. 

Her voice sounded rough from lack of usage, "Master, what's wrong?"

Boil snorted a laugh beside her but didn't sound very amused, "You took on a bunch of Mandalorian warriors with only some soft-shells and civvies to back you up. Then you blew yourself up and almost was sucked into the vacuum of space. That's what's wrong."

Kisar frowned once the memories came back to her of what she did. The memories of what Spar said to her came back as well and she needed answers. 

She looked firmly into Master Kenobi's eyes, "Master, we need to talk."

***

 _Manda'lor:_ leader of Mandalore

 _Jetii_ : Jedi


	13. Chapter 13

Both Waxer and Boil looked confused after Kisar asked to speak to Master Kenobi alone, though neither one could outright question her in front of their General. With concerned and frustrated looks shot toward Kisar, they left with the unspoken promise of them returning later for answers. 

After finally being alone with her Master in the Medbay, Kisar took a deep breath and sat up as best as she could on the bed, "Master......Spar told me some things that don't make any sense."

Master Kenobi seemed to know what she was talking about but feigned ignorance. He grabbed a chair and scooted it so he could sit beside her on her bed. 

"My young Padawan," He leaned closer and clasped her hands loosely, "What did he say that confused you so?"

Kisar knew that what she was about to ask may seriously affect her beliefs. If the Jedi Council truly did hide something as life changing as Spar said it was, then Kisar didn't know what to believe anymore. 

"He talked about how it made sense that I was sent out into the battlefield since the timing was right. How the fact that I am a Cathar Jedi and he is a Fett _Manda'lor_ made the timing right. What does he mean? Why would it matter?"

Master Obi-wan sighed, his handsome face was pinched in a frown. "Kisar......a long time ago, there was a prophecy made by a Cathar Dark Jedi by the name of Yarro. Master Yarro was a respected Jedi within the Order but was driven by his thirst of revenge into darkness. He had a vision of a Cathar Jedi avenging the lives of the Cathar who died in the genocide committed by the Mandalorians. He prophesied that a descendent of Cassus Fett and his Fett Clan would become _Manda'lor_ and terrorize the Jedi. A Cathar Jedi would rise up and avenge the Cathar and protect the Jedi by defeating him in combat." 

Kisar was even more confused. There was a prophecy about a Cathar Jedi killing a Fett _Manda'lor_? So Spar thought that she was supposed to beat him in combat? He was a highly trained Mando warrior and former ARC trooper, she was just a scrawny Padawan. He couldn't possibly view her as a threat.

She had to know why she was the first Cathar Jedi in over a millennia though. 

"Why have I been the only Jedi amongst the Cathar in so many generations?"

Master Kenobi paused before answering, "That...is a sensitive topic and I am unsure if I should enlighten you on it or not."

Kisar begged, "Please, Master. A lot of people have died because of whatever Spar thinks will happen between us. I must know."

The Human Jedi shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly, "Young one, this is an intense story so you may want to prepare yourself before I begin," he waited for Kisar to nod at him to show she was ready, "Yarro attempted to kill a _Manda'lor_ by the name of Ordo Fett to fulfill his prophecy but failed. Unfortunately, in his last moments, Yarro informed Fett of his vision in order to strike fear into the heart of the _Manda'lor_. It worked too well and Ordo Fett ordered his men to kill any Force-sensitive Cathar in the galaxy before they could become Jedi to prevent the prophecy. This practice has been continued by an extremist minority of Mandalorians up to this point."

Kisar was almost too afraid to ask, "How did I avoid being killed then? I was brought to the Temple as a baby and no one told me of any murder attempts before I arrived there."

Master Kenobi looked worn as he responded, "You were almost killed when some Mandalorians raided your village not long after you were born. Kisar, you were the only survivor of that attack."

Kisar slumped back into the pillow on the bed in pure shock. Her entire village was slaughtered because of her existence. Her family was killed because she was born. 

That would explain why Spar was suddenly so interested in her when he saw her behind Master Hosep the first time they met. He wanted to prevent the prophecy as well by killing her personally.

Kisar felt a strong conviction enter her body as she thought about how many men died on the _Negotiator_ because of Spar's attempt of revenge and prevention of Yarro's vision. 

She could no longer stand-by and idly watch others die because of her existence. Spar already proved that he would go after her on the battlefield or safely situated on a Republic cruiser, so she had to train and better herself for the sake of those around her. 

The Cathar were known as famous warriors and the Jedi even more so. Kisar would make both proud. 

She knew exactly who could help her with that too.

***

Kisar paced outside of the office after being medically cleared. She had no idea how to approach the man inside and ask him for training. He was the only non-Jedi Kisar knew personally that was capable enough to kill Spar and even had the same intense training as the _Manda'lor_. She just didn't know if she had the strength to ask such a big favor from someone she was not exactly on good terms with. 

"You know you'll wear a hole in the floor if you keep doing that, kid."

Kisar jumped and reached for her lightsaber instinctively only to see Cody beside her in the hallway outside of his office. She sighed in relief and consciously relaxed herself, she had been easy to startle ever since Spar attacked the _Negotiator_.

She blew some hair out of her face and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, sir. I just needed a word with you and didn't know how to exactly start the conversation."

Cody rose his eyebrows at the rare formality from the uncouth Padawan but gestured for her to enter his office. Kisar followed him inside and sat down at the chair in front of his desk. The entire room was bare of any decorations and was neatly organized. There was no character or individual expression in the office and Kisar couldn't tell if that was because of Cody's lack thereof or because of strict regulations enforced on the clone Commander. 

After a few moments of awkward silence and Cody staring directly at her expectantly, Kisar bit her lip nervously and decided she had to go ahead and ask, "Commander, I need a favor."

Cody didn't so much as blink as he continued to stare her down, "What kind of favor?"

"I need..." She hesitated before gathering herself again, "I need you to teach me how to kill an ARC trooper."

The normally unflappable Commander visibly jerked as he processed her words. He seemed to be waiting for her to start laughing or claim that what she said was a joke. When Kisar continued to eagerly wait for his response, Cody realized she wasn't kidding. 

He grunted out, "You're a kid. You shouldn't have to learn how to do that."

Kisar tried to keep her voice steady but the desperation and raw grief still shone through, "Spar has already established that it doesn't matter that I am a youngling. He'll come after me no matter where I am."

"Even if I did offer you all the training the galaxy has to offer, it wouldn't change the fact that he is a full-grown adult and you are a much weaker and less developed child. It's a fight you can't win, even as a Jedi." Cody sighed as he shook his head.

Kisar stood up from her chair, "My family and my entire village are dead because of me being born. Now a large chunk of soldiers and Admiral Block on the _Negotiator_ have died because of Spar's desire to kill me. I don't have a choice but you do. Either train me to deal with this as best as I can or leave me to eventually die at Spar's hands and your men to continue being killed just because they were protecting me."

Cody inhaled sharply as he too stood up to his full more intimidating height, "If you want it that badly, I'll train you. But keep in mind that it'll be hard work and that you'll have to do everything I say and I mean _everything_."

With that ominous statement, Cody began to walk towards the gym area where the sparring mats were. Kisar trailed after him and struggled to keep up with his longer strides. She was about to ask him to slow down when the sight of Waxer and Boil approaching them stopped her. 

The two clone troopers narrowed their eyes once they spotted their friend and quickened their pace to catch up with the two Commanders. Waxer reached them first and clasped Kisar's shoulder.

"Hey, kid. Giving Cody trouble again?" He teased the Cathar cub as she huffed.

Cody snorted in front of them and muttered about how he wished that were the case. Boil gave his own snort in return and nudged at Cody with his hand, "What's got your panties in a twist, Commander?"

Cody didn't give his usual dry and witty response to Boil's ribbing, "The kid wants me to train her to kill Spar." 

The mirth on their faces was erased, "She's a kid, she shouldn't have to worry about that," Waxer echoed Cody's earlier statement.

Kisar tried to defend herself, "Spar doesn't care that I'm a kid."

"We do." Boil growled.

"Then help me. You won't always be here to protect me. You weren't here yesterday when Spar attacked after all." The three clones winced at that reminder. Kisar felt bad for pointing out that they weren't there to protect her when she needed them most but they had to realize that they could also protect her by training her to be prepared to take on Spar alone again. 

Waxer and Boil looked to each other and then to Cody. All three men seemed to be mentally communicating with each other for answers. Kisar was again made aware of how much smaller she was compared to the three clone brothers as they loomed over her and wordlessly discussed how to best help her. The reminder that Spar, as a bred ARC trooper, was even larger and stronger than they were made Kisar realize how outclassed she was in a fight against him. 

She apparently would need all the training the galaxy could offer and then some. 

"Fine," Waxer muttered darkly, "you can train with us and learn how to fight like a clone. We know you spend time with General Kenobi everyday for three hours for meditation and lightsaber katas in the gym. Once you're done with those katas everyday, we'll come in and continue your training with blasters and hand-to-hand combat."

Kisar nodded. Their plan made sense. 

Cody rubbed his chin as he assessed her, "You'll need to get used to fighting opponents who are much bigger than you. I'll start a regimen that will help you learn how to take advantage of the size difference and use it against an opponent."

Kisar was relieved that they were willing to help, "Thank you. I want to no longer be the reason that people die and I think this'll help."

Boil shook his head gravely, "No one blames you for what happened yesterday, kid."

Kisar felt dejected as she admitted, "They weren't the only people who have died because of my existence. My village, including my entire family, were killed by Mandalorians too. They viewed a potential Cathar Jedi as a threat who could seek revenge against Mandalore. They were trying to kill me, but my family and village tried to protect me. They died just like the soldiers did yesterday, because of me."

She watched Waxer suck in a breath in shock as Boil cursed and Cody narrowed his eyes into furious slits. Kisar sniffled a bit and wiped at her nose with the back of her sleeve only to realize she had been crying as well as she told them what happened to her family. 

Kisar felt a hand gently grasp her shoulder in comfort. She looked up into Waxer's compassionate eyes as he gave her a slight smile. 

"You didn't kill them, Kisar. It's not your fault this happened. It's Spar's fault and whoever the cowards were that attacked your village's fault too."

Kisar shakily nodded and sniffled again. Waxer squeezed her shoulder again before guiding her to the gym with Boil and Cody.

***

Kisar was knocked down into the sparring mats for what seemed like the millionth time. Her body ached and her limbs felt heavier than boulders. Kisar groaned and pushed herself up again and ignored her screaming muscles. 

Cody tilted his head from his position a few feet from her, "You should really stay down this time, kid."

Kisar bared her teeth in a toothy smirk, "Give up already, sir? I expected more from you."

She heard identical chuckles on the sidelines as the growing crowd of 212th troopers gathered to watch her get beat up by Cody. Waxer and Boil had spread the word that Cody was going to start training Kisar and dozens of troopers congregated in the gym to get some free entertainment as a result. 

Cody gave his own toothy smirk in response and returned to a sparring position, "The words _give up_ aren't in your own vocabulary are they?"

Kisar cracked her neck a bit and willed her body to lift up her fists in a fighting stance. Most of her Jedi combat training revolved around simple lightsaber blocking techniques until Master Kenobi deemed her ready enough to learn more offensive moves. Alorum taught her a few self-defense moves that had saved her life more than a few times on Nar Shadaa but that was against mostly untrained petty criminals, not against an experienced soldier. 

She was outmatched and was well aware that Cody was going easy on her and still beating her, but she refused to stay down and admit defeat. Spar wouldn't let her have a break, so she wouldn't allow herself one either.

Kisar charged the Commander and began to use her small size to her advantage as she dove to the ground under Cody's swiping arms and plowed her entire bodyweight, as small as it was, into one of his legs. It was enough to make Cody buckle a bit but he didn't fall down as she had hoped. Instead, Kisar was picked up by the scruff of her shirt collar and effortlessly thrown into the wall by Cody. 

She yelped in pain and surprise from her landing into the unyielding surface but began to get up anyways to try again. 

"Wait!" Kisar turned to see the 212th's medic, Helix, point at her, "You've had enough, Commander. It's time to stop."

Kisar pouted, "But Helix, I'm not done yet!"

The medic shot her an unamused look and addressed Cody, "You've gauged her skill level and fighting style already, Commander. There's no need for this spar to continue."

Cody shrugged his shoulders, "If you say so, Helix. Just make sure the kid gets back to her quarters and doesn't decide to do anything stupid like she usually does on her off hours."

Kisar growled at him while the gathered clones began to guffaw and wave at her as Helix dragged her out of the gym. After she was out of the gym and in the hallways, the adrenaline wore off and the pain in her body increased astronomically and Kisar was grateful for Helix's iron grip on her arm as she sagged in exhaustion. 

Once she made it to her room, Kisar couldn't help but snicker after Helix roughly threw her onto the bed and quickly made his way out of her quarters. Before he could fully step outside, Kisar called out his name.

The medic stopped in concern, "What is it? Are you injured from the spar?"

Kisar grinned from ear to ear, "You forgot to read me a bedtime story."

Due to her body's fatigue and soreness, Kisar was unable to dodge the hand that thwacked her upside the head in response to her cheekiness. Helix exited her quarters grumbling about bratty Jedi and Kisar giggled as her sensitive ears picked up most of his rant all the way down the hallway as he walked back to his Medbay. 

She reeked of sweat and didn't have any strength left in her body to even take off her damp clothing as she lay on her bed with throbbing muscles. Everything hurt from both the exertion of the spar as well as the blows Cody dealt on her. He wasn't even using his full strength and Kisar felt like she wouldn't be able to move for weeks without wincing. 

Despite all of that, Kisar was satisfied and proud of herself. She would no longer be useless. She would no longer be defenseless. She was going to become a fearsome Cathar Jedi and she would prove Spar and the other extremist Mandalorians right for fearing her. No matter how much work it required or how long it would take. 

As she closed her eyes to fall into blissful unconsciousness, Kisar remembered the various bodies she saw from Spar's attack and tried to imagine what her family looked like. Their deaths would not be in vain.

Kisar would make sure of it. 

***

** Translations **

_Manda'lor_ : Mandalorian leader


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kisar learns about the positives of Mandalorian culture while also being introduced to new negatives. 
> 
> Warning: very inappropriate touching from an adult to a minor (Doesn't get graphic but still disturbing)

Ahsoka Tano was the kind of person Kisar knew she would get along with the moment she had a conversation with her. 

Ahsoka was a Padawan who was just as wild as Kisar was, if in a more orthodox fashion. Ahsoka was also much closer to Kisar in age than most other Padawans that were present on the field. The other Padawan that Kisar met and hung out with a bit was Barriss Offee, the Jedi version of Cody. Barriss was a by the books Jedi who never broke a rule unlike Ahsoka or Kisar. Usually, such behavior would rub Kisar the wrong way, but Barriss proved herself to be a kind-hearted elder sister figure to both Ahsoka and Kisar.

Kisar spent a lot of time with them whenever they had corresponding Temple leaves. She also spent a lot of time at the clone barracks to continue her training with Cody and sparred with him regularly.

Her relationship with Cody had been steadily changing in a positive manner ever since she started training under his tutelage. While the Marshall Commander had maintained a strong authoritative type of bond with Kisar and avoided a close friendship like Waxer and Boil had with her, she knew she could always rely on Cody for advice as a mentor. 

Master Kenobi had been kept busy for days now and was unable to offer a lot of training on his own. Whenever he and Kisar were stationed on Coruscant, he would be bombarded with Jedi Council meetings and responsibilities. Kisar would consequently be handed off to a Master like Cin Drallig to train under temporarily in Kenobi's absence. 

Kisar didn't mind the fact that her Master couldn't spend a lot of time with her while they were on Coruscant. With the rare freedom offered, Kisar spent a lot of time training for her betterment but she also spent a lot of time exploring Coruscant's underworld.

As a consequence of her and Cody's improved relationship, the clone Commander actually cared about Kisar's whereabouts when she wasn't on the _Negotiator_ or in the barracks under his official responsibility. This meant that Kisar had been caught by Cody whilst doing something illegal on more than one occasion and was sternly disciplined. On one memorable night, Kisar was actually dragged by the ear all the way from the sketchy cantina she was hanging out in to the barracks, where she was given a thorough dressing-down by Cody. 

Ahsoka liked to joke that Cody was more of a mentor to Kisar than Master Kenobi was at times. Kisar would always deny the Togruta Padawan whenever she would say that, but deep down, Kisar was starting to agree with her observation. Unless she had a problem with something that was Force related, Kisar would often go to Cody for advice instead of Master Kenobi. At first, it was because of Cody being more available than Master Kenobi was, but eventually Kisar found herself going to Cody even when her Master was available. 

That was why when Kisar was contacted by her Master and told that she was going to be assigned to a protection detail for a neutral dignitary, Cody was the first person she went to for more details. 

Once she reached the barracks, she was shocked to see Captain Rex and the 501st with Cody. It was one thing to see Rex hanging out with Cody as the two were close friends, but it was another thing to see the 501st with Cody. Such a combination usually meant the "Team" as Ahsoka liked to call Skywalker and Kenobi, was assigned a mission together. Kisar sighed, at least that meant she could hang out with Ahsoka. 

Cody turned to her as she walked into the common area of the barracks, "Good, you're here. I assume you've been informed that we will be leaving soon."

Kisar nodded and gestured to the pack she brought, "Yep, I'm ready when you are."

Cody grunted in approval before turning back to Rex and continuing to discuss their duties during the escort mission. Kisar sighed and walked over to some of the 501st soldiers that she recognized. Kix and Jesse were both having a argument about something, Kisar knew better than to think they were actually mad at each other. Waxer and Boil had the same kind of quarrel everyday, it probably was just a clone brother thing.

"Kix, Jesse, do either of you know where we're going?"

They both jumped and saluted quickly before Kix answered her, "We're going to Mandalore to escort their Duchess to Coruscant."

Kisar actually shrieked, "Mandalore?!"

Several eyes turned towards her and Kisar huffed before looking at Cody accusatorially. She knew he knew where they were going yet he didn't tell her. Her Master also selectively kept that information from her. 

Cody didn't seem very apologetic, "The Duchess is not Spar, kid. Only a minority of Mandalorians believe Spar is their _Manda'lor._ She's actually his opponent. You're not escorting an enemy, you're escorting an _ally_."

Kisar hissed and bore her teeth in a snarl, "I still don't like it."

"You don't have to like it," Cody sternly reminded her, "You just have to follow orders like a good soldier."

Kisar crossed her arms over her chest in both a move to show her displeasure as well as to hide the shaking in her hands. Cody must have noticed her fear because he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze, "Don't worry, kid. I'll be right beside you the entire time."

***

Kisar was sulkily approaching Master Kenobi alongside Cody, Rex, and Master Skywalker. Kisar was already on edge because they just arrived on Mandalore, but the incredulous stares every Mandalorian gave her in the hangar were not helping her anxiety and frustration decrease. 

"Reporting for escort duty, General." Skywalker cheekily announced to his former Master. Kenobi merely gave his former Padawan a relieved look.

"Oh, Anakin. Am I glad to see you." Kisar heard the obvious exhaustion in his voice and felt worry creep up into her mind again. Master Kenobi looked like he just came from a fight, on the supposedly now peaceful Mandalore.

Master Skywalker gave a breathy chuckle, "You sound tired."

Master Kenobi gave a thoughtful look towards Kisar before muttering, "The peaceful ways of the locals wore me out a bit."

After that ominous statement, they all headed back towards the New Mandalorian dignitary ship called the _Coronet._ Kisar was trying to keep her gaze forward in order to avoid making eye contact with the gawking Mandalorians as she took her final steps off the planet and onto the _Coronet_. She unconsciously slid closer to Cody and his calming presence in the Force to console herself.

This was going to be nine Corellian hells of a space trip. 

***

Kisar stuck to Cody's side like glue as often as she could while they acted as Duchess Satine's escort. Ahsoka wasn't even assigned to the mission to hang out with Kisar so she did the best she could to entertain herself and distract herself from the fact that she was surrounded by Mandalorians on a Mandalorian ship. 

Cody, in his defense, did a great job of keeping her distracted with mundane tasks and made sure she was never alone. Kisar either had Cody himself or a 501st trooper alongside her at all times. That was until Master Kenobi decided that Kisar needed to learn some manners fit for high society and she shadowed him as he talked to politicians and other members of the upper echelons of the galaxy.

She did her best to avoid Duchess Satine, but since she and Master Kenobi apparently had a passionate history, that was impossible. The Duchess actually looked taken aback when she first was introduced to Kisar by Master Kenobi. 

Kisar witnessed the Duchess stuttering out, "You---you're a Cathar Jedi."

"Yep," Kisar responded without much thought of how rude she was technically being. The Duchess seemed too distracted by her very existence to notice fortunately. 

"How is that possible?!" 

Kisar shrugged her shoulders, "Don't know. But it happened and I'm here."

She could sense Master Skywalker's glee and Master Kenobi's exasperated disapproval at her lack of manners from behind her as she interacted with the Duchess for the first time. Kisar wasn't as charming as Master Kenobi was nor was she as dashing and popular as Master Skywalker was. Her chances of actually winning the hearts of anyone in these kinds of gatherings were slim to none anyways even if she tried, which she really wasn't in the company of Mandalorians. 

That was when Mandalorian Prince Tal Merrick of Kalevala had intervened in an attempt to salvage their unusual conversation, "Please forgive our Duchess, she is simply surprised to see a Cathar Jedi. There hasn't been a member of the Order from your kind in over a thousand years if I'm not mistaken after all."

Kisar bit her tongue to keep her from saying something bitter in return to that comment. Prince Merrick sure used a delicate way of saying that the Duchess was shocked to see a Cathar Jedi because their people had been slaughtering her people for thousands of years now. Kisar could feel a warning in the Force sent from her Master to control herself in front of the dignitaries so she did her best to put on a fake winning smile like Alorum taught her and responded back in a faux sweet tone. 

"I understand how my existence would surprise some people, Prince. If _I_ am not mistaken, my existence surprised quite a few people from _your_ system as a whole. I am truly flattered to be a celebrity to the Mandalorian people. I hope to someday live up to the high expectations your people have offered me and not disappoint you as a Jedi." 

To anyone who did not know Cathar or Mandalorian history, her words would seem praising of the Mandalorian people and completely respectful. To the Mandalorian nobles before her and the Jedi behind her, her words were a dark promise of fulfillment of the feared prophecy that some Mandalorians have tried to stop for generations. 

Prince Merrik stiffened at her response and actually gave a surprisingly intimidating glare. Duchess Satine's reaction was the most astonishing to Kisar. The Duchess of Mandalore actually began to giggle under her hand clutching her mouth in an effort to hide her reaction.

Kisar knew she might have gone a little far in her remark, and was suspecting the Duchess to react more like Prince Merrik, but her genuine amusement was not what Kisar was expecting at all. 

"Padawan," Duchess Satine managed to stop her laughter enough to gasp out, "would you please escort me back to my quarters? I am suddenly a bit tired and in some need of some rest before we start dinner."

No one in the room believed a word of the Duchess's shameless bold-faced lie of an excuse, but there was no protestations of her temporary departure either. Kisar reluctantly walked with the Duchess to her room with two of the Mandalorian guards trailing behind the two. 

Kisar remembered Cody's words of how Duchess Satine was an enemy of an enemy and therefore her ally and tried to apologize to the Mandalorian for her hostile words earlier, "I'm sorry for being rude earlier, Duchess."

Duchess Satine exhaled a short breathy laugh, "I believe I was the one who ruined the conversation with my own actions. You simply gave the exchange the finishing blow."

"It's still not an excuse. I acted wrongly around you and Prince Merrik because you both are Mandalorian and that was terrible of me." Kisar admitted. 

Duchess Satine sighed, "I do not blame you for your defensive reaction to us, Padawan. I am sure you have been wronged by some of my people in your lifetime already and I apologize on their behalf."

Kisar frowned as the memories of just how wronged she had been by some Mandalorians entered her mind, "Duchess...you are a good person. I wish there were more Mandos who think like you."

The Mandalorian leader smiled sadly as they finally reached her quarters, "As do I, Padawan," her eyes focused on nothing in particular as flashbacks flew through her mind, "As do I."

The Duchess then bid Kisar a quiet yet warm farewell and Kisar made her way back to where Cody and the 501st were even though she was technically supposed to return for dinner with Masters Kenobi and Skywalker. After such a whirlwind of emotions happened in such a short time, Kisar needed to feel Cody's comforting Force presence. 

Before she could exit the elevator to enter the level that the clones were stationed in, Kisar was stopped by the approach of Prince Merrik. She had no idea why the Prince was on that level of the ship. The only beings on this level were the clones and some worker droids, both of which would usually be considered beneath a man of Merrik's position to interact with. 

She bowed respectfully despite her confusion, "Prince Merrik, I did not expect to see you on this level. Is there anything I can help you with?" 

The Mando Prince gave her a strange look before responding, "I was looking for you actually." 

Kisar felt uneasy, "How did you know to look here instead of where Masters Kenobi and Skywalker sleep in the guest quarters?"

Merrik smirked, "I simply heard that you preferred to be down here from some respected sources."

Kisar still had no idea why the Prince had wanted to see her and she did not like the way he was looking at her. He had a calculating and hungry gaze as he faced her and physically stood in the hallway between her and where the clones were.

"I must admit," He drawled out as he stepped closer to Kisar, "I cannot understand how a pretty young girl such as yourself managed to survive the infamous Fett clone known as Spar twice. You seem like you would be better fit for much more _delicate_ things besides fighting." 

She shivered as the words he spoke registered in her brain. There was something seriously creepy about the Prince and Kisar wanted to be as far away from him as possible. She was cornered in the elevator and couldn't get away from Merrik unless he let her leave or unless she used force to make him let her go. 

The Prince scanned her up and down and smiled slowly with all of his teeth showing. He may have had the mostly flat teeth of an omnivore, but Kisar felt like he was a grinning and victorious predator in front of herself as the cornered prey. 

Merrik took another step closer to her so that she was backed into the corner of the elevator with him now physically touching her with his body against hers. Kisar squeaked and tried to push against him but was afraid to actually hurt him. He was a Prince and she was a Padawan, if she attacked him, it would be his word against hers. 

His hand lifted to stroke against the side of her face and then down to her neck while the other placed itself above her head to further trap her between his body and the wall of the elevator. "Such a soft creature," He murmured appreciatively as he slid his fingers through her fur, "I can see what my ancestors saw in your people now." 

Kisar again tried to push against him, "Please, Prince Merrik. I need to go."

The Prince actually moaned at that and leaned down to whisper in her pointed ear atop of her head as both of his hands were now touching her body, "I love it when you say my name like that. Go on, little cub. Go on and beg me some more." 

Kisar squirmed against the hands grabbing and stroking her in places she knew should not be touched by an adult. The Prince simply chuckled in her ear and pushed her further against the wall so that there was no space between them. Kisar felt tears flow down her cheeks at the helpless and disgusting feeling of being touched like this by someone like Merrik. She probably could take him in a fight but wouldn't dare try because of how much more political power he had as a Prince.

"Prince Merrik," a blessedly familiar voice called out. 

Both Kisar and Merrik turned to see Cody and Rex behind them in the hallway. The two clone officers had their helmets off and had neutral expressions on their faces that hid the fury Kisar knew they were really feeling. Merrik must have also sensed their anger as he slowly backed off from Kisar. He adjusted himself before putting on a practiced smile. 

"Troopers, I was just sharing Mandalorian history with Padawan Kisar here." Kisar whimpered at his word choice, she didn't want to share that particular aspect of Mandalorian history with the Prince as a Cathar. 

She saw Cody and Rex's eyes quickly dart to her disheveled and terrified form before returning to Prince Merrik's person. Cody stepped forward into the elevator with Rex following after him, "Padawan Kisar needs to assist me in some military duties, sir. She'll be coming with us now."

The Marshal Commander's voice was perfectly calm and respectful yet held no room for argument as Cody went so far as to grab Kisar's arm and drag her to Rex, who then placed himself in front of her as a protective shield. 

Merrik didn't look thrilled at the obvious dismissal by someone who was of lower rank than him, but knew better than to push as it would make him look suspicious. He gave a brisk goodbye to Rex and Cody but couldn't help but give a falsely cheerful promise to see Kisar again soon. 

Once the elevator doors closed, Kisar almost collapsed to the floor of the hallway as the horror of what just happened to her came in at full force. She heaved a few sobs out while glaring at the ground through her teary eyes before she saw a familiar pair of boots walk up to her from her line of sight. She looked up into Cody's intense eyes as he kept glancing back to the elevator doors as if to will Merrik to return so that he could hurt him himself.

She could also feel Rex's rage in the Force as the 501st Captain kept restraining himself from reaching for his blasters to shoot something (preferably Prince Merrik) to let out his anger. 

"Come on, Kisar." Cody gently coaxed as he ever so carefully wrapped one arm around her shoulders and started to walk towards where the rest of the clones were. "Let's get you to your cot."

Kisar had begged Kenobi to sleep with the clones instead of in the quarters they were issued as Jedi. When her Master asked her why she wanted to join the clones and their living arrangements instead, Kisar honestly answered that she felt safer there and could relax better around the Mandalorians if she had a safe place. 

Kisar was extremely glad that her Master agreed to let her stay with the clones as Cody softly guided her numb form to the temporary barracks the clones made. The feeling of so many familiar presences in the Force immediately comforted Kisar as she took off her boots and slid under the thin blanket provided with the cot. 

She heard a scraping noise and turned her head to see Cody had dragged his cot over so that it was right next to her's. The Commander patted her reassuringly on the head before sitting down on the cot and starting to read the regulation manuals that he was so fond of as the 501st clones performed their own duties in a buzz around the two Commander's forms. 

Even though it was early in the evening, Kisar's body began to lose consciousness at the feeling of Cody being close to her as a protective presence, a reminder that she wasn't alone at the moment and that Merrik couldn't get to her anymore. She doubted that Merrik would get into any actual trouble for what he did because of his political power even if she did confess what happened to Master Kenobi, but she was comforted by the fact that she didn't have to keep what happened a complete secret because of Cody and Rex witnessing Merrik's actions and stopping him. 

Kisar knew she would be haunted by the memories of what happened in that elevator for a long time, but at that moment, with the feelings of friends and allies in the Force around her, she slept like a baby.

Cody never left her side the entire night as he watched over her.


	15. Chapter 15

Prince and esteemed Senator Tal Merrik had tried to approach Kisar on several more occasions over the next couple of days. That was why Cody made sure she was never alone. If Master Kenobi wanted Kisar to interact with the dignitaries, Cody would leave her in her Master's care. Once her time with the dignitaries was over, however, she would have to contact Cody and wait for him to arrive and escort her back to the temporary barracks. 

Prince Merrik had followed Kisar out the door and down the hallway a few times only to be met with Cody's emotionless visor around the corner. The Marshal Commander would lie and wait for Kisar everyday in order to keep her out of the Prince's grasp. It was obvious that Senator Merrik knew what Cody was doing but he still couldn't find a way to rationalize spending so much alone time with Kisar with the clone Commander looming over the Padawan's shoulder forebodingly. After all, Cody's word might not be respected as a clone, but what he saw through his helmet was recorded on his HUD, and video evidence was rarely doubted. If Merrik were to try something with Cody around, it could possibly ruin his political career. 

Her Master was blissfully unaware of all that had happened between Kisar and Merrik. He only knew that Merrik frightened his Padawan and that his second-in-command was strangely more attentive and protective over Kisar than usual. The normally keenly observant man was less so around the Duchess as she seemed to have a unique talent of frazzling the previously thought to be perfect Jedi Master. Kisar had no intention of sharing such a personal and embarrassing experience with the man anyways. She had no need to with Cody around to look out for her. 

Her time with the Duchess had been eyeopening for Kisar. After their initial conversation with each other as they walked to the Duchess's quarters, Kisar grew to admire Duchess Satine and her desire to right the wrongs of Mandalore's past. Satine asked Kisar a lot of questions about herself and gave a sympathetic ear to Kisar's story of encountering Spar and having her village massacred. 

The Duchess admitted that a significant minority of Mandalorians view Spar as their _Manda'lor_ and want her to be overthrown. However, Spar's influence was more in the outer Mandalorian colonized planets instead of their home planet, where Satine was recognized by the majority as the premier. 

Kisar knew why her Master assigned her to this escort mission now. He was trying to help her get over her fear and hatred of Mandalorians by showing her that not all Mandalorians were like Spar. Even after the elevator incident with Merrik, Kisar began to see that she should not be so hasty to judge someone because of their people group.

As long as she avoided Merrik, Kisar hoped that she would have a continued relaxing voyage to Coruscant on the _Coronet_.

***

Cody and Rex were worried about something that happened to R2-D2. The astromech was apparently spooked because he saw something while rolling around the sectors of the ship. Kisar watched as they contacted Master Kenobi and informed him of the situation. 

"I also lost contact with two of my men." Kisar's ears perked up at that statement from Rex, a spooked droid was one thing, but having two missing troopers added even more frightening possibilities. 

She heard Master Obi-wan's calm voice assure Rex that he would be down soon to assist them. Kisar sighed, that was good, she hated being the only Jedi when things went to sludge. However, instead of Master Kenobi exiting the lift that went directly into the area where they were monitoring the ship, it was Master Skywalker. 

"Alright, men. What's the problem? I'm missing dinner." The Human male strode confidently towards Captain Rex as R2 chirped happily at seeing his master. 

"We're not sure yet, sir," Cody admitted, "but there's no sign of Mixer and Redeye."

Master Skywalker nodded and started to talk to his droid. Kisar was always astonished to see how easily Skywalker communicated and interacted with droids. She was terrible with technology and usually didn't have good relations with droids as a consequence. 

R2 began to scan the cargo bay for anything that was out of place as clone and Jedi alike followed after him. Kisar's ears twitched atop her head as they honed in a peculiar sound. It was faint, but she could hear the sound of the beeps of a droid as well as what sounded like knives scraping against a surface. 

"Master Skywalker," she called out hesitantly as she continued to listen, "I think there's an unfamiliar droid out there."

The Hero of the Republic turned around slowly with his lightsaber ignited, "How do you know that?"

Kisar gestured to her ears, "I don't know where it is because things are very echoey in here but I can tell you that it is definitely in here."

"Just great." Master Skywalker muttered darkly. 

Before Kisar could respond to his grumpiness, their group happened upon a very large and very empty box. Kisar smirked inwardly, looked like she was right after all.

"Well, what've we here? Looks like the contents of this box are missing." Rex wondered aloud as he used his helmet lights to scan the area for any signs of whatever was in the box.

Master Skywalker's eyebrows were furrowed in concern, "Or it got up and walked away," he turned back to the troopers, "All right, fan out. Separate squads. Kisar and I will contact Obi-wan."

Kisar listened to Anakin and her Master discuss what to do about the situation as the sound of scraping bounced off the walls and containers of the room. An ominous feeling through the Force filled the room. Kisar shivered at the feel of it, she sensed the droid was close. 

Skywalker's voice broke her out of her sensory daze as he talked to R2, "What's up? Did you find something?" 

Both Padawan and former Padawan of Master Kenobi followed the droid as R2 began to roll towards through a pathway in between crates. The pitch black of the cargo bay did not help Kisar's nerves as she walked behind Skywalker. 

The sound of dragging footsteps reached Kisar's ears as she looked ahead of her to see a limping clone approaching. 

"There you are. Redeye, where have you been? You've had us..all...worried." Skywalker's voice began to become hesitant as both Jedi noticed the strange way the clone was moving with his head hanging limply. 

"I don't think that's Redeye anymore." Kisar hissed as she watched a large droid make itself known as the puppeteer of Redeye's corpse. It threw the body at Master Skywalker and charged him in a more open area. 

Kisar also drew her lightsaber and stood beside the Jedi Knight. They both managed to slice a couple of metallic legs off of the droid but their attacker still managed to throw some boxes at them in retaliation. Kisar went down with Skywalker as they were unable to get back up in time to defend themselves. 

Fortunately, before the droid could finish them both off, blaster fire pierced its armor and caused it to shriek. Kisar turned to see the clones charging the droid and sighed in relief. It was quickly destroyed by the clones and laid in a scrap heap on the floor. 

Kisar heard the familiar sound of movement of a droid just like it and turned to see another droid was making its way up the lift. She heard Skywalker shout for the clones to blast it before contacting Obi-wan and warning him to be ready to defend the dignitaries. 

Skywalker ordered, "There might be one left. Let's spread out and find it."

Cody turned to spot smaller droids popping out of the back of the assassin probe, "Watch it!"

Everyone began to shoot at the minuscule assassin probe babies that started to swarm towards them. 

"They're everywhere!" Rex growled as he used his dual blasters to shoot down as many droids as he could to protect his men.

Kisar and Master Skywalker both used their lightsabers to cut down the little ones with broad strokes. Their lightsabers were more efficient than the blasters in this case but not more efficient than R2's deactivating blast that he emitted from a probe atop of the head part of his body. Once all of the little droids were destroyed, Skywalker congratulated the men around him before thanking R2 specifically. 

"Assassin droid. How did that monster end up in the hold?" Rex grunted in frustration to Cody. 

"The question is, who smuggled them onboard." Skywalker answered quizzically as Rex nodded in consideration. Kisar took the moment to rest as Skywalker interrogated a protocol droid to find out who sent the box with the assassin droid inside of it.

She felt a light tug on her sleeve to see Rex had directed her to the lightsaber slash on it. She didn't feel any pain so it must have been too shallow to cut anything else but clothing. Kisar must have either stepped a little too close to Skywalker or managed to swipe herself with her own borrowed lightsaber. She chuckled sheepishly and looked into Rex's visor and mouthed, "Don't tell Cody."

Even though the Captain was wearing a helmet that covered his face, Kisar could still feel the disapproving and exasperated look directed towards her from him. Kisar was well aware of how close her arm came to being seriously injured, but Rex still needed to relax a bit. 

"Kisar," Master Skywalker called out to her, "We have a problem." 

She walked over to the Jedi Knight, "What is it?"

"Whoever sent this assassin probe is a member of the Senate." 

Kisar frowned as the thought of Merrik immediately sprang up. She had to be careful not to be hasty in her accusation though, it's one thing to be a pervert, it's something entirely different to be a murderer and a traitor to one's government. 

"Master Kenobi might have an idea of who it is. Did you tell him yet?" She questioned. 

Skywalker shook his head, "I'm about to tell him myself. Wanna come with?"

Kisar shuddered at the thought of seeing Senator Merrik again, "No, thanks. I'll stay down here."

Master Skywalker gave her a confused look, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Kisar muttered when she remembered Skywalker didn't know about the elevator incident, "I'll come with." 

***

As Kisar walked into the dinner room, she felt the traumatized eyes of the dignitaries follow her. The attack by the assassin probe was stopped by Kenobi, but the psychological affect it had on the Senators and nobles was unable to be stopped. 

Everyone but the two Mandalorian leaders, Satine and Merrik, seemed shaken up by the recent events. The fact that Satine appeared relatively calm after almost being killed did not surprise Kisar, what surprised her was the fact that Merrik was also calm. Kisar was aware of at least some of Duchess Satine's violent past in the civil war, but she did not think Prince Merrik had any experience in such things. 

Kisar could feel Merrik's eyes burning into her as she stood attentively next to Skywalker and Kenobi as they discussed who could be the traitor in the room. Cody wasn't there and Kisar felt profoundly uncomfortable being in Prince Merrik's presence again, even if she did have the company of Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi. 

"Kisar," Her Master quietly hummed, "I want you to be with me as I question the Senators. We may need to apprehend whoever reveals themself as the one who sent the assassin probes." 

Kisar almost groaned at the thought of being around the Prince any longer, but she knew better than to argue with him up front, Master Kenobi was a profoundly good wordsmith and could win just about any argument thrown at him. 

Once Skywalker headed back down to the hull of the ship to search for more probes, Kisar took a deep breath and began to carefully watch the body language of the Senators as Master Kenobi interrogated them using one of the baby assassin probes. She watched the little droid react aggressively to all of the Senators but one: Prince Merrik. Kisar sucked in a shocked breath. 

"Really, General Kenobi. You're quite clever!" Merrik growled as he pushed the tray holding the droid out of Kenobi's hands. Kisat leapt into action and began to swipe at it with her saber, but she was not quite as accurate as Skywalker or Kenobi were so she missed and watched helplessly as it crawled up a Rodian Senator's back. Thankfully, Master Kenobi had sliced it before it could hurt the Rodian, but Kisar turned back to Satine to see she had been taken hostage by Merrik. 

"Duchess!" Kisar cried out as she raced forward to save her new Mandalorian ally. Prince Merrik chuckled darkly as he witnessed her emotional reaction to seeing Satine in harm's way. He backed out of the room with the Duchess as Kisar followed him. 

"I didn't realize you were so close to the Duchess, little cub. If you be a good girl and come along quietly, I promise to not lay a finger on your new friend." Merrik crooned as the doors closed behind them. Kisar nervously looked back at the entrance. Kenobi had to have noticed their disappearance by now and should be entering the hallways to save them himself.

Satine cried out from her captive position, "You monster! What could you possibly want with the child?" 

"There are plenty of things _I_ want with the child, but it's a certain Mandalorian that my own bosses are reluctantly allied with that really wants her. Spar is offering a handsome sum for whoever delivers young Kisar here to him alive." Merrik looked her over shamelessly and Kisar felt dread pool in her gut at the thought of her being delivered to Spar.

Merrik smirked as he stopped his lascivious gaze in order to shoot down some guards headed their way, "Believe me, Duchess, you are much better off than our little Jedi cub here."

After those terrifying words were whispered in the Duchess's ear, Senator Merrik entered the bridge of the ship and began to mercilessly gun down the pilots and soldiers with a helpless Satine and Kisar watching. He pressed on the communication controls to reveal a Mandalorian waiting on the other end of the call. 

"Death Watch command." The rough voice of the armored Mandalorian announced. Kisar shuddered, she had heard of Death Watch, their members were extremists who had little moral limits. 

"Tal Merrik here." The Senator responded eagerly. 

"Senator Merrik. Have you completed your mission?" The Mando questioned sternly. 

Merrik nodded, "Yes, sir. I have the Duchess and I even managed to capture the Cathar Padawan too, but I will need a little help getting them away."

The Mandalorian sounded pleased, "Very good. Reinforcements are on their way."

The call shut off to the sound of Merrik's triumphant laugh, "Don't worry, Duchess. It will all be over soon now."

He turned his unwelcome gaze back to Kisar as he licked his lips, "I look forward to delivering you to Spar myself, little cub. I think our journey to his base will be most pleasurable."

Satine's eyes widened as she realized what Merrik was alluding to, "You wretched pedophile! You are no Mandalorian! You are not even a man! Leave Kisar out of this! She is only a child!"

The Duchess turned her eyes to Kisar when all she got from Merrik in response was snickering, "Child, you do not have to do this."

Kisar shook her head no, "I do. I can't let the Prince shoot you. Master Kenobi will come, you'll see."

As if on cue, her Master bursted through the entrance to the bridge with a lightsaber drawn. He had an intimidating scowl on his face as he took in the sight of a scared Kisar and a furious Satine with a blaster pointed at her head by Senator Merrik.

"Come in, Kenobi. You're expected." Merrik purred.

"Tal Merrik, you are under arrest. Release my Padawan and the Duchess." Her Master ordered. 

Prince Merrik grinned from ear to ear, "Hmm, I took the precaution of wiring the ship's engines to explode. I press this remote, and we all die."

Satine pleaded with Master Kenobi to not let the other inhabitants of the ship die just to save her. Kisar joined in with the Duchess and told her Master that it was a sacrifice she was also willing to make as a Jedi. 

Her Master reached out for the both of them in regret as Merrik backed out with his two captives into the hallways once more. 

Kisar was taught as a Jedi to not let fear and doubt cloud her mind, but as she watched her Master helplessly follow them not being able to free them from Merrik's grasp, she began to become truly afraid. Afraid that she would be brought to Spar by the Prince to be killed. Afraid that on the journey to her execution, she would be completely alone with Merrik as he took his pleasure from her unwilling body. Afraid that she would not bring justice for her village after all her people had suffered. 

"I'm sorry, Waxer and Boil," Kisar whispered to herself as Merrik began to boast to Kenobi about his victory, "I might not fulfill the promise you made me make to outlive you two, after all."


	16. Chapter 16

Kisar watched helplessly as Merrik activated his comm link, "This is Merrik. Stand by to disengage."

He mockingly cooed into Satine's ear, "Say farewell, Duchess."

"Obi-wan, it looks like I may never see you again." Satine gasped with Merrik's arm around her throat. "I don't know quite how to say this, but I've loved you from the moment you came to my aid all those years ago."

Prince Merrik groaned, "I don't believe this."

Master Kenobi seemed confused and tried to gently tell her that now was not the time for such confessions but Duchess Satine shot him a pointed look, "All right. Had you said the word I would have left the Jedi Order."

"That is touching. Truly, it is. But it's making me sick, and we really must be going." Merrik chuckled.

Kisar growled with her teeth bared, she wouldn't give up. She couldn't let the fear control her and leave her weak. "NO!"

She stuck her retractable claws natural to the Cathar race into Merrik's leg. The Prince howled in pain and let go of the Duchess involuntarily. Satine expertly stole the blaster from Merrik's hand and stepped away from him to aim it at his head.

"A degenerate like yourself deserves to be trodden upon like the slug you are!" Satine hissed venomously.

"Interesting turnabout." Merrik muttered as he pressed his hands into his bleeding leg. "I still win, no matter what you do though because I will blow the _Coronet_ to bits once I exit this ship."

"I won't let you!" Kisar howled as she drew her lightsaber.

Merrik turned his gaze from Kenobi and the enraged Satine down to Kisar, "Little cub, as much as I'm sure you want to cut me down after our little _engagement_ in the elevator, it's not the Jedi way."

Master Kenobi looked confused, "Kisar, what does he mean? What happened in the elevator?"

Senator Merrik looked back and forth between Master and Padawan before roaring with laughter, "Oh, this is a riot. And here I thought Padawans told everything to their Masters and had an unbreakable bond."

Master Kenobi's eyebrows were furrowed in uncertainty as Merrik continued, "That _clone_ of yours has been a better Master than you have, Kenobi! You want to know what happened, allow me to-AGH!"

The Prince's words were cut off by a blue lightsaber thrusting out of his chest. Kisar's hands were still tightly gripping her lightsaber hilt tightly as she watched Merrik's body fall lifelessly to the floor. Skywalker stood behind him as his killer as he caught the remote that Merrik was holding.

"Anakin..." Master Kenobi whispered disapprovingly.

The Jedi Knight shrugged, "What? He was going to blow up the ship."

Kenobi and Satine began to walk to each other with purposeful steps. Both Kisar and Skywalker averted their eyes respectively to give them a moment. Before the two former lovers could reach each other, Cody entered and told Skywalker that the droids were defeated. Their moment completely ruined, the two distanced themselves from each other and straightened their posture.

"I must get back to the business of diplomacy." Satine announced with her head held high as she walked away from Master Kenobi.

The Jedi Master looked resigned as he bowed, "As you say, Duchess. Some other time."

Cody looked down at the frozen form of Kisar as she had her eyes firmly locked on Merrik's body. She had not yet deactivated her lightsaber. The Marshal Commander placed his hand on her shoulder gently in order to not scare her into stabbing him instead.

"You okay, kid?"

Kisar mumbled numbly, "I wanted to kill him. I hated him."

The hand at her shoulder squeezed once, "But you didn't. You're stronger than that."

"Yeah," Kisar muttered, "I stabbed him in the thigh with my claws though."

Cody chuckled and patted her on the head, "Good girl."

***

Master Kenobi kept shooting Kisar questioning looks through the rest of their journey to Coruscant. Kisar could tell that he wanted to ask her what Merrik meant when he gloated about their encounter in the elevator but did not know how to broach the subject.

Her Master was a smart man and probably had an accurate idea of what the traitorous Prince was talking about. It was only a matter of time before he decided to finally ask Kisar for answers.

Kisar knew their little dance would only get worse the closer they got to Coruscant, so she decided to take it upon herself to take the first step.

Kenobi was meditating in the quarters he shared with Skywalker when Kisar entered. She looked over to see a third bunk placed specifically for her by the _Coronet_ staff. It was a subtle reminder of the lack of closeness Kisar felt with her Master. She was surprised that Master Kenobi was not more touchy about how obvious it was that Kisar looked to Cody more than to him for advice and mentorship. She needed to mend the rift between herself and her Master.

"Master?" She called out softly to bring him out of his meditation. The Human male slowly opened his eyes and turned over to his Padawan with a warm smile.

"Ahh, Kisar. It is good to see you."

Kisar shuffled her feet nervously while playing with her tail, a nervous tic she picked up from watching other Cathar do it on Nar Shadaa. "Master, I have to tell you something."

He gestured to the chair in front of Kisar for her to sit, "I knew we were going to have this conversation eventually."

Master Kenobi, to his credit, did not push Kisar for more information or pressure her to start talking. He patiently waited for Kisar to start and when she did, he did not outwardly react even when she went into detail about where Merrik touched her and how scared and disgusted she felt. The only time he made a noise or face was when he gave a quiet sigh of relief when she got to the part of the story where Cody and Rex caught Merrik in the act and stopped him.

"Padawan....I am afraid I have failed you once more as a Master." Kenobi lamented as he stood up from his meditating position on the floor, "If Cody or Rex were not around to look out for you during and after that horrid act, I dread to think what could have happened."

Kisar shook her head profusely, "No! You have been a wonderful Master. I was the one who never gave you a chance to help me by depending on the clones instead."

"They are very dependable." Master Kenobi agreed with an upturn of his lips, "Kisar, my duties as a High General and as a Jedi Council member have decreased my time with you to a concerning degree. I think we both should take a trip to get your lightsaber crystal together to rectify that."

Kisar gasped in delight, "Do you mean it?"

Her Master nodded, pleased, "I will discuss with the Council once we arrive on Coruscant for the best time to depart. I promise it will be soon, but I do not know when it will be yet."

Master Kenobi placed a hand atop of Kisar's mane and ruffled it between her ears, "We'll finally get some much needed Master-Padawan bonding time."

***

As Kisar watched the Duchess of Mandalore depart with the Senators and Chancellors on the highest level of Coruscant, she clutched the gift that Satine gave her before biding her farewell.

Kisar looked down at the container. It was medium sized and heavy with a note attached to it written in elegant Mando'a script. She shook it gently to try and discern what was inside but she couldn't open it unless she found someone to translate the Mando'a first that wasn't her Master.

The Cathar Padawan huffed in amusement at the pointless little quest the Duchess wanted her to go on in order to open her present. She followed after Cody with a teasing "Good luck" from her Master.

Once she reached the Marshall Commander, Kisar tapped his side, "Hey, Cody. Do you know any Mando'a?"

He grunted, "No, kid. CC's of my class had less exposure to Mandalorian trainers and were instead trained by older ARC troopers for the most part. I did pick up a few words from the ARC's but the ones selected for training CC's were less _inclined_ to follow or spread Mandalorian culture."

Kisar pouted and shuffled the box in her arms to give some of her muscles a break, "Do you know anyone who does? I'm not allowed to ask Master Kenobi because apparently the Duchess thinks that's cheating."

"Most of the clones who did learn Mando'a chose to no longer speak it after Spar's betrayal and the consequential association a Mando'a speaking clone could have to his cause." The Commander's visor looked straight ahead in thought as he marched alongside his brothers, "Go ask Gregor and his squad of Commandos. They should be in the barracks right now on leave. If they're not in the 212th barracks, they'll probably be near Wolffe's neck of the woods. There's a glorified cleaning closet over there that a bunch of Commandos and ARC's use as a game room."

Kisar nodded and thanked Cody before running to the barracks with an extra boost of Force speed. The anticipation of opening the first present she had ever gotten was killing her.

After checking the 212th barracks, Kisar found no signs of Foxtrot Group anywhere. She groaned and turned to head towards Wolffe's controlled area of the barracks.

"You really gonna try and leave like that without saying hello, furball?" A rough voice of a clone drawled behind Kisar.

Kisar turned to look Boil in the eye before giving a cheeky "Yep!" and trying to duck under his grabbing arms after placing the box down carefully. Unfortunately, Kisar did not see Waxer reaching for her and was snatched up into the trooper's arms. She hysterically giggled and squirmed vainly in his strong grip.

The bald clone looked down at her and smirked, "Well now you can't go anywhere, kiddo."

Kisar squealed, "Waxer! Let me go! I have to go see Gregor!"

The two clone brothers looked at each other in confusion, "What do you mean, darling? Are we not good enough for you? Have you finally decided to replace us?" Waxer wailed dramatically as he crushed Kisar further into his unforgiving chest plates.

Boil smirked at Waxer's mockery of the holodramas that they knew Kisar loved to watch, "Tell you what. We'll let you go if you let us come with you."

Kisar groaned with her face smushed against Waxer's chest, "Fine. Just try and keep up."

Twin chuckles answered her defeated sigh as Kisar was let down onto her feet again. She glared at them petulantly before again moving towards where Cody said Gregor should be with the other special forces clones. The two clones teased her whenever she took a wrong turn and would redirect her back the right way.

Kisar was secretly grateful for their presence though, she doubted she could walk into a room of Mando-inclined clones without some moral support.

***

Before her time spent on the _Coronet_ , Kisar would have never entered a room full of special forces members. She trusted Gregor and his squad well enough because of her extended time spent with them, but the rest unnerved Kisar for months. They were far more Mandolorian influenced than regular troopers and officers. Some of them, such as the Nulls, even identified as Mandalorians and were more loyal to Mandalore than to the Republic.

Kisar was relieved to see Gregor and the rest of Foxtrot smushed in a corner surrounded by other Commandos and ARC's once she entered the "glorified cleaning closet." When the 212th Captain spotted the Padawan, he waved her over with a grin.

"Commander! What brings you to our fine establishment?" Gregor's eyes panned over to Waxer and Boil, "And you brought guests!"

"We came here to get away from the regular troopers, not have them come to us with some Padawan," one of the nearby ARC's muttered snidely.

Gregor's tone switched to harsh in a millisecond, "Watch it, Snaps!"

Said ARC trooper came to attention in response, "Yes, sir!"

Gregor's demeanor immediately shifted back to his relaxed stance as he leaned against the wall, "You come here just to see little old me, kid?"

Kisar gestured to the box in her hands, "I need a translation. How's your Mando'a, Gregor?"

The Commando Captain stepped forward to read the note that Satine left her. A soft frown came upon his face as he read, "Sorry, Commander. I can only understand some of this. My Mando'a is not as good as it once was and even then I wasn't fluent."

Kisar sighed, "Is there anyone here that can?"

Gregor shrugged and yelled to the room of clones, "Hey, boys! Who here is fluent in Mando'a?"

Over a dozen eyes flew over to Gregor and to Kisar beside him. Plenty of Commandos and ARC's alike admitted that they knew some Mando'a but they weren't fluent. Kisar kept hearing over and over again that she needed to find an older clone or a clone that was adopted by a Mando trainer.

"Do you know where I can find either of those types of clones?" Kisar questioned warily.

"We can contact some of them and see if they're around!" One of the ARC's shouted excitedly.

Kisar's eyebrows rose in surprise at their eagerness but she nodded to them in approval. The Cathar Padawan leaned down to Gregor and whispered, "Why are they so excited about this?"

Gregor chuckled as he watched the battle hardened veterans delightedly press their comms, "They're trying to get into contact with one of the legendary ARC Nulls now that they have a valid excuse."

After an hour of waiting, one of the Commandos whooped with joy and proudly announced that he got in contact with one of the Nulls known as Mereel and that he was on his way.

Cheers erupted across the room and Kisar watched as a much larger clone, larger than she had ever seen before, sauntered into the room oozing confidence.

"You must be Mereel." Kisar managed to keep her voice steady as she greeted the Null.

"And you must be the Jedi youngling in need of some translation." Mereel crowed in an unfriendly tone.

Kisar stiffened but let the comforting Force presences of Waxer, Boil, and Foxtrot calm her mind before answering, "Yes, I would appreciate your help if you wouldn't mind."

"I would actually," the Null shrugged, smirking, "I was busy doing actual important stuff when I was called down here. You'll have to earn this translation, knee-high."

"Fine," Kisar kept her tone indifferent, "What did you have in mind?"

Mereel's sharp eyes scanned the room and landed on an abandoned Sabacc game, "How about we play an old fashioned card game?"

Kisar couldn't believe the blessing the Force had just bestowed upon her, Sabacc was probably the one thing she had a chance of beating the Null at, "You're on."

The table was quickly cleared by their excited audience and Kisar sat down in front of Mereel from across the table.

When she was passed her cards, Kisar made sure to keep her face in a default smug expression to hide her nervousness.

As they entered the betting part of Sabacc, Kisar could sense Mereel's amusement as he drawled, "So what could be so important that you've gone through all this trouble for a translation, hmmm?"

"A gift." Kisar selectively revealed.

"A gift!" Mereel placed a giant hand upon his armored chest daintily with a gasp, "From a Mandalorian? Way I've heard it, Cathar Jedi haven't had the best of relations with us Mandos."

Kisar chuckled but made sure to keep her laughter light instead of bitter in response, "You're not wrong there. But things change, don't they?"

The two entered the calling phase as they squared off. It was Mereel's advanced training and super genetics against Kisar's own Force-sensitivity and experience.

For the first time since she was a beginner in Sabacc, Kisar was struggling to win. The Nulls really were the best of the best and Kisar needed some serious luck to beat Mereel in the shifting phase.

"I'm surprised a _Jedi_ would spend so much time with us clones for this long of a game of Sabacc. Tell me, are you the kind of _nice_ Jedi who thinks of us as glorified pets or are you the type of Jedi so blind to the errors of your ways that you think our service is actually okay?" Mereel was trying to psyche her out now and Kisar would be the first to admit that it was slightly working. She could sense the offended reactions of her men behind her and internally smiled, they were too good for her.

"No, Mereel. I'm neither. I'm just trying to do the right thing."

The older clone threw his head back and laughed, "You're the second type then! Just some clueless Jedi."

Kisar shook her head as they entered the last phase known as the drawing phase. She had two suits and another four suits, which would be enough to win the game on most accounts as a score of -24, but the Force kept telling her that it wasn't enough to beat Mereel.

She had the chance to draw one more card and risk it all.

Kisar was a fool, but a brave fool nonetheless so she decided to discard one of her four suits in order to draw another card. The Force sang in triumph when the card known as the Idiot was drawn by a shocked Kisar. The Idiot, when combined with two and three suits, which she now had, made an unbeatable combination that was rarely seen in Sabacc known as the Idiot's Array.

When Mereel laid down his cards, Kisar was impressed to see the Pure Sabacc hand of 23. He would have definitely won in any other game.

"See? Clueless." Mereel crooned mockingly as many of the clones around him applauded and cheered.

"Oh, trust me. I'm not clueless enough to be unaware of how clueless I am," Kisar grinned with all of her predatory teeth showing.

Mereel's face fell as he realized the Padawan in front of him was not as defeated as he assumed.

"But here's the thing about being a clueless Jedi, my Null friend, the Force seems to have a soft spot for us," Kisar placed the Idiot's Array down on the table as everyone in the room gaped, "Even if we are _idiots_ , the Force just seems to be on our side anyways."

The entire room, except for Mereel, exploded in hoots and shouts as they just witnessed a _Null_ get defeated in a game of wits by a puny Padawan. Waxer and Boil were banging on the walls behind her and grabbing Kisar and shaking her in glee. Gregor and his men were all proudly yelling that Kisar was _their_ Jedi and no one else's. Kisar just sat there in partial disbelief. She hadn't gotten that close to losing in a long time. It wasn't her own skills and knowledge that saved her in the end, it was the will of the Force.

"Ain't that poetic." Kisar mumbled to herself with a crooked smile.

Mereel, to his credit, dutifully translated the note and wrote it down in Basic for her before hastily making his exit out of the game room. Kisar felt embarrassment and bitterness from the departing ARC, but she also sensed a tiny bit of respect from Mereel as well after she beat him. He even went so far as to nod at her in recognition before leaving.

Kisar was led back to the 212th barracks by a jubilant crowd of special forces soldiers as Waxer and Boil bragged to every clone that passed about what their Jedi just did.

Once Kisar said goodbye to the clones in the barracks, she made her way to the Jedi Temple in order to get the chance to finally read the note and open the gift Satine gave her.

She entered her quarters and collapsed on her bed with the box placed beside her and Mereel's translation in her hands.

_"To a true Mandalorian, a child is more valuable than a mountain full of Beskar and more important than even the most strategic of victories."_

Kisar felt tears well up in her eyes as she finished reading the note. The good in Mandalorian society had been exposed to Kisar and she felt overwhelmed as she shakily opened the box containing her gift.

She choked out a sob when she saw the scattered pieces of Beskar in the heavy box, by the looks of them, they were made to be assembled into a melee weapon. Kisar knew Satine wanted her to build a lightsaber of her own with one of the strongest materials in the known galaxy, and also one of the most rare and expensive.

"More valuable than Beskar, indeed." Kisar sniffled.


	17. Chapter 17

"I'm turning 11 tomorrow." Kisar told her Master pointedly.

"Mmmhmmm." Master Kenobi didn't look up from his datapad.

"That means I am an 11 year old Padawan tomorrow with no lightsaber of my own."

Her Master's lips quirked up as he hummed again, "Mmmhmmm."

Kisar huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. She pouted at the nonchalant Jedi Master as he typed innocently on his datapad. "And this doesn't bother you because......?"

Her Master kept clicking away as he responded, "Because we're arriving at Ilum today."

Kisar gasped and threw her hands over her mouth. She squealed and danced around in their quarters for a couple of minutes while her Master watched in amusement. After taking a moment to collect herself, Kisar turned back to Kenobi.

"No wonder you've been so tightlipped about where this shuttle was heading! Ahsoka and Skywalker wouldn't tell me either. I should have known because of their smug faces." Kisar grinned as she couldn't help but swing herself back and forth in order to swish her Jedi robes.

"Yes, I managed to convince the Council to give us a 'vacation' in order to let you acquire your own lightsaber crystal since you were already gifted with all of the other parts." Master Kenobi chuckled as he stood up from his chair and walked out of their quarters to announce to Skywalker and Ahsoka that Kisar knew where they were going now.

Ahsoka ran into the room to bounce around with Kisar in excitement, "You're finally getting your own lightsaber!"

"I know!" Kisar responded back just as excited.

"Now you'll finally be a real Padawan!" 

"I know!"

"Are you two done?" Master Skywalker groaned from his position fixing a droid across the hallway. Their squealing and shrieking in glee were causing a sizable headache for the Jedi Knight. The two Padawans smirked at each other at his displeasure before jabbering away in delight once more. 

Master Kenobi looked smug as he grinned down at his former Padawan's position on the floor, "Oh, let them have their moment, Anakin. We will arrive today and then you'll have some peace and quiet to fix all the droids and machines that you want while we wait for Kisar."

Master Skywalker grumbled a bit before continuing to tinker. Ahsoka wrapped a wiry arm around Kisar. Master Kenobi set down his datapad to make himself some tea. 

Kisar watched them all with a blissful smile.

She was glad to finally be escorted to Ilum and to finish the journey that Spar so horrifically derailed three years ago. 

***

Kisar couldn't believe her eyes as she gazed upon the walls of ice in front of her. She had heard that Ilum was covered in ice and snow but she hadn't believed it until she landed on its surface with her Master.

"Wow, I have never seen ice before." She whispered in awe.

Master Kenobi chuckled behind her, "Well, you'll get the chance to see plenty of it today. Remember, Padawan, you will be tested before you can find your crystal."

Kisar nodded and waited for her Master to give her an affirmative to head into the cave in front of them. Once she received permission, Kisar took a deep breath and headed into the gaping mouth of the cave system in search of her crystal.

Darkness immediately surrounded her as she walked further and further through the tunnels. Her Cathar biology was the only thing that allowed her to see without use of the Force as she managed to not trip over the uneven pathway. The Force hummed powerfully and echoed off of the ice walls. Thousands upon thousands of Jedi and other Force-users had traveled in the same cave as she was now.

Kisar felt the distinct impression of being watched as she trod along in the pitch black. Her ears instinctively flickered back and forth searching for the hidden presence. Kisar even felt her hackles raise and her tail twitch in unease. 

A whisper blew past her right ear and through her mane, " _Kisar_."

She reached for the temporary lightsaber she used to have on her belt but cursed once she remembered that she no longer had it, "Who is it?!"

The laughter of multiple voices bounced off the ice around her. Kisar gave a snarl and extended her claws in a fighting stance.

"Reveal yourselves!"

"Oh, Kisar," a suddenly physical voice crooned behind her, "You're so big now!"

The Cathar Padawan turned to see a female of her own species in partial corporeal form. The woman was beautiful with soft fur and a flowing dress that swayed with the wind alongside her golden mane. Parts of her would flicker into physical form before returning to its original spiritual form. 

Kisar gasped at the sight of another Cathar in Ilum of all places, "Who are you?"

The woman giggled warmly, "I'm your mother, silly."

"Bantha crap," Kisar growled, "You're too pretty to be my mom."

The woman threw her head back and laughed for a few moments before turning to Kisar and grinning. Kisar's mouth gaped when she saw a mischievous smile identical to her own on the older Cathar's face. 

"I'm flattered that you think I'm pretty, but let me tell you something, cub, you're not too bad looking yourself. I think you'll have to beat the tomcats off with a stick once you grow more into your body." 

Kisar narrowed her eyes as she opened her mouth to again accuse the woman of lying about being her mother. The adult Cathar raised her hand in a universal symbol for "be quiet" before gliding forward, "I may not have known you for long as I was taken from you far too soon, but I know the face of my only child."

Kisar gasped at the feeling of phantom and material fingers stroking through her snarly mane and gently untangling the knots and petting her simultaneously. She knew that feeling. When Master Kenobi ran his fingers through her hair before, she remembered the feeling from somewhere. Someone in her far past had done the same thing but she didn't remember who at that time. She knew now. 

"You are my mother aren't you?" Kisar whispered tentatively.

Her mother nodded while she continued to sort out her mane for the first time in close to 11 years, "I only had you for a month before the Mandos came and took me away from you." 

"They took us all from you." A deep male voice breathed behind them.

Kisar turned to see a Cathar as large as Zoruk, a feat she had never thought possible until now, as he floated through the ice wall and stood in front of them. She knew that baritone voice. She had memories of hearing deep purrs or melodic singing right next to her ear whenever she slept.

"I know you." Kisar muttered as she stepped forward and pressed her head against his semi-physical chest in order to hear that familiar purr and confirm her suspicions. Eerily enough, she heard no heartbeat from beneath the barrel chest, but as she remained in that position, Kisar felt the sensation of him purring and closed her eyes in bliss at the intimate sound. 

"Yes, you do, little cub." The male spoke as Kisar kept her ears pressed against his fur in order to listen to the familiar baritone.

"You're my father." She whimpered at the realization that she was actually talking to the spirits of her parents, "You're my family."

Her mother's hands returned to their rightful place in her mane in soothing comfort as Kisar sobbed against her father's chest. She felt his muscular and large arms wrap around both her and her mother in a protective embrace. 

For a few minutes, Kisar sensed the Force presences of other spirits and managed to peak through her father's arms in order to see that there were more Cathar, familiar yet nameless as they all beamed at her and sung soothing melodies in purrs and hums in Catharese. The rest of the village was there too. Everyone who had died protecting her.

Kisar heard choked sobs from behind her and swiveled her head as best as she could in her father's embrace to see her mother was crying. She also felt wet droplets land on top of her ears and the large chest beneath her began to slightly tremble. Her parents were crying.

"Mother, father, what's wrong?" 

Her mother sobbed, "We weren't sent here just to reunite with you, my cub. We were sent here to test you and I don't know if we can do it."

Kisar frowned as she remembered Kenobi's instructions of how the caves would test her before she could obtain her crystal. She looked up resolutely into her mother's eyes and patted her father's arm with her hand in comfort, "I don't think any of us have a choice. Even if this ends badly, I am glad I got to meet you and see what you look like and remember what you sound and feel like."

Her parents both grimly looked at each other before shakily nodding down at their only child.

For a few moments, nothing happened until a high pitched ringing entered her ears and shattered the ice around them. 

The scenery immediately changed to reveal lush grasslands and several ginormous building sized trees. Cathar children giggled as they ran across the plains and were chased by smiling parents. Everything felt peaceful and right. 

"What is this place?" Kisar murmured in confusion.

Her father shook his head in grief, "This was Cathar before the Mandalorians came thousands of years ago."

The sky darkened and terror filled the air as Kisar recognized the silhouettes of military grade cruisers block out the sun. She watched a fleet of ancient Mandalorian battleships descend onto the formerly serene planet in fast-motion. The Cathar, despite being taken off guard and being attacked by much more technologically advanced invaders, managed to fight off the Mandalorians in a humiliating defeat for the crusaders.

Kisar watched as a second wave came with much more sinister intentions besides conquest. A familiar scene that she was haunted by as an eight-year-old played out as vengeful Mandalorians of a new generation swarmed the planet and attacked the women and children first to break the spirits of the warriors. They hunted the Cathar like animals and treated any survivors the same by caging them.

A final wave came in the form of Ordo Fett as he stood over the dying form of the Dark Jedi known as Yarro. The Dark-sider laughed and spat the blood flowing from his mouth into the _Manda'lor's_ visor, "You may have won today, _Fett,_ but there will be a Jedi champion from my people in the future. You will live a successful life and have a long reign but your descendent will not have that same blessing. He and his men will suffer and their defeated corpses will offer up a blood payment to the Cathar to restore our honor and dignity. _Justice_ will finally be brought to the Cathar for the sins you Mandos have committed against us."

Ordo Fett turned away from the now dead Yarro and took off his helmet to reveal a concerned face underneath. She watched him order his men to seek out any Force-sensitive Cathar and to kill them. Generation after generation of Mandos followed his orders over centuries until Kisar saw her own parents cradling her infant self and blissfuly smiling in content. 

Kisar wanted to scream at them and tell them to hide or get off of the planet, but it was too late as she heard the dreadful sound of the _Dha Werda Verda_ , the Mandalorian war chant, being performed in the distance. Her parents and the villagers heard it too and began to scramble to prepare themselves for the incoming attack but the Mandalorian assailants still had the advantage of surprise and superior numbers as they slaughtered the village's inhabitants in search of baby Kisar.

Finally, all of the villagers except her parents were killed and her family was surrounded by Mando warriors. Her father let out a terrifying roar and began to viciously fight off the dozens of warriors in such a powerful and frenzied way that only a father protecting his family could manage. Kisar was in awe as she witnessed her father kill enemy after enemy with his double-bladed staff. When it started to look like her father would be victorious, however, a pained scream interrupted his battle. 

Her mother had been shot down by a slugthrower and was rapidly losing her grip on life. Baby Kisar was in her bloody arms, miraculously unharmed. The distraction of her mother's death cost Kisar's father because he did not see the knife until it was buried into his stomach by the unnamed Mandalorian leader. 

The last surviving Mandalorians began to walk towards Kisar in her dead mother's arms with their flamethrowers about to be ignited on their wrists. Before they could burn her infant self alive, however, Kisar's father used the last of his strength to grab the blaster of a fallen Mando and turn it on the last surviving warriors. They all fell under his aim and Kisar's father dropped the weapon and crawled to her and her mother's body and collapsed. 

Kisar watched her father slowly die while desperately trying to cling to life for his daughter's sake. It wasn't until the sound of a ship arriving reached Kisar's father’s ears and two Jedi appeared to save Kisar that her father finally let go after uttering his last words.

"Her n-name...is..is Kisar."

The vision ended and Kisar was back in the icy darkness of Ilum's caves. The ghostly form of Master Yarro stood to her left as he appeared to have been witnessing the same things she did.

"They need to pay. The Cathar deserve justice." The Dark Jedi growled beside her.

Kisar vehemently shook her head, "No! There are good Mandalorians too."

Yarro ignited his blue blade in fury as he gestured to a vision on the wall in front of them of the Mandalorians burning and screaming under Kisar's lightsaber as she led an army of vengeful Cathar and slaughtered the Mandalorians.

"They must burn!" He waved his hand to show her an image of how Cathar was before and after the Mandalorians attacked, "You want your family's lives to be avenged don't you? They have taken so much from us. Did you not see all the bloodshed and death they brought to our people? Did you not see the dishonor we experienced as we became obsolete and scattered across the galaxy desperately trying to repopulate and regain our honor?"

"I saw it!" Kisar screamed as tears ran down her face, "They died because of me! Because of a prophecy _you_ told Ordo Fett about!"

The Dark Jedi clucked his tongue condescendingly, "They died because the Jedi were too weak to truly finish the Mandalorians off. But you aren't weak, Kisar. You can join me and we can take down Spar together. I will train you to do things the Jedi will never be capable of doing."

For a minute, Kisar contemplated the pros and cons of joining Yarro. The Jedi Code prevented her from being attached to her family, from truly serving her people instead of the galaxy as a whole, but Kisar knew she didn't have it in her to become a Dark-sider. Kisar didn't want to be unfeeling like some Jedi preached, but she wouldn't let her feelings control her like the Sith did. Kisar wanted to love and she wanted to feel loved. It may not follow the Code, but Kisar knew she would be an unorthodox Jedi the moment she rejoined anyways.

"I do want to bring justice to my people," Kisar admitted. Yarro's yellow eyes lit up as he held out his hand in invitation. "But to follow the Dark side would mean to become filled with hate, and I don't want to hate anyone. I want to bring justice, not merciless revenge."

Yarro howled in rage and Force pushed Kisar against the ice walls before disappearing. She blacked out for a second before two lights appeared before her. Her eyes cracked open to see the proud and now completely physical faces of her parents and followed their movements as they held out two lightsaber crystals to her in open palms.

"We're so proud of you." They murmured together in unison.

Kisar grabbed the crystals from their hands and looked up to smile at them shakily. Her mother pressed a kiss to her forehead first before fading out into nothingness and then her father did the same. 

Kisar was alone in the caves once more as she gazed down at the two blue crystals that were given to her after being tested. They felt right in her grasp unlike the temporary lightsaber she had been using before.

With one last longing gaze to where the spirit forms of her parents had previously been, Kisar turned around and began to head back to reunite with her Master. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a lot of contradicting views on the afterlife in the Star Wars Universe in both Canon and Legends so I just decided that since it's so convoluted now, I can't hurt it any more with my own spin on the afterlife and ghosts in Star Wars


	18. Chapter 18

Kisar had been struggling to build her lightsaber around the crystals she earned. She had an idea of a double-bladed lightsaber similar to the weapon her father used against the Mandalorians, but she didn't know how to assemble the image in her head.

Duchess Satine had been more than generous with the amount of Beskar she had given the Padawan, so Kisar didn't have to worry about running out of material for her hilt at least. She suspected that the Duchess gave her a large amount so that she could adjust her lightsaber size and style as her training progressed and as she grew up into a woman.

 _If you ever grow up to be a woman._ A sneering voice in her head reminded her.

Kisar closed her eyes and softly cursed in Huttese. She couldn't think like that. Jedi who came from Dragon Clan never let pessimistic thoughts stop them. She had had a stressful past couple of weeks that had broken her concentration but she couldn't let that stop her.

On their way back to Coruscant from Ilum, the foursome of Jedi were redirected to Felucia to investigate the disappearance of a medical station. While there, they encountered bounty hunters who were hired to protect some local farmers from Weequay pirates. The leader of this Weequay pirate gang, Hondo Ohnaka, was someone Kisar knew by reputation alone, but was apparently someone who Skywalker and Kenobi knew personally.

Ohnaka further broke Kisar's concentration by attacking the farm village they and the bounty hunters were protecting with sufficiently deadly force. None of Kisar's friends died, but seeing them in danger desperately trying to save as many innocent lives as they could horrified the Cathar cub.

The head bounty hunter, Sugi, gave them all a ride back into the safety of the Republic and Kisar was once again faced with the predicament of not knowing how to assemble her lightsaber.

Kisar had never been very technologically inclined and was struggling because of it. Ahsoka had tried to give her tips on how she made her own lightsaber but Master Kenobi stopped her friend from outright showing her how to do everything. Kisar really wanted to throttle her Master at that moment.

The Cathar Padawan groaned and began to smack the back of her head repeatedly against the wall of her quarters within the Jedi Temple.

"I can't imagine that that is good for your brain, Padawan." Kisar turned to see Master Windu standing in the doorway of her and Kenobi's quarters with a barely suppressed smile on his normally stern face.

Kisar flopped further down onto the wall and slid to the ground, "I'm hoping that if I slam my brain hard enough, it'll finally give me a good idea for assembling my lightsaber."

The legendary Jedi Master and old friend of the late Master Hosep nodded with a faux serious look, "When I was an Initiate, it took me almost two months. Perhaps that was because I didn't use your method of physically thumping ideas into my brain."

She giggled at the sarcastic response from the Jedi Master she used to idolize alongside Master Hosep. Master Windu was not a demonstrative man compared to most Jedi, let alone most sentients so seeing his sense of humor in action was refreshing to Kisar.

"Perhaps," Master Windu wondered aloud innocently as he took a step forward into her room, "A change of scenery could help you build your lightsaber?"

Kisar narrowed her eyes playfully, "Depends....what's the scenery going to be changed to?"

Master Windu chuckled lowly, "I asked Obi-wan to borrow you for a while and have you accompany me on my starship, the _Endurance_. We both agreed that this would be helpful to reinvigorate you in your training."

The Jedi Master paused theatrically before turning and walking out of her room as he called out, "I could even teach you a few Vaapad moves if you finish your lightsaber. Consider it an incentive."

Kisar stood up in excited shock so fast that the beskar on her lap clattered to the floor.

***

"I'm going to be a tour guide to some mini-troopers?" Kisar exclaimed as she was situating herself in her temporary quarters.

She was sharing the room with Master Windu. Three years ago as an Initiate, Kisar would've fainted at the opportunity. Now, she was much more calm but still had a small voice in her head that was squealing with joy.

Master Windu shot her a dry look, "Those _mini-troopers_ are the future of the Republic. It would do them good to meet some Jedi so that they don't see us all as warriors of near-myth. Master Ti has informed me from her experience with cadets on Kamino that that is an issue."

Kisar grinned mischievously, "Just as long as they don't fall in love with me because of my exotic beauty, Master, I can handle a few me-sized clones."

The Korun Jedi Master merely shook his head at her cheekiness and gestured for her to continue unpacking.

***

Kisar found out that Master Skywalker was joining them as they prepared to welcome the clone cadets onto the _Endurance_. The Cathar Padawan shook her head in amusement. She doubted she would be very interesting as a simple Padawan compared to the likes of famous Jedi such as Skywalker or Windu right beside her.

Master Skywalker greeted the assembled clone younglings, "Morning, troops."

Master Windu nodded to the cadets, "Welcome aboard the Jedi cruiser, _Endurance_. I am Mace Windu and this is--"

Skywalker interrupted the introduction in his usual extravagant fashion, "Anakin Skywalker. Welcome Aboard. Today you'll see how a real working Jedi cruiser operates, and you'll have the chance to serve alongside three Jedi officers." 

Kisar smirked and Windu gave a bemused look at the starstruck responses from the cadets as they excitedly exclaimed to each other about getting the chance to work with real Jedi. 

One of Master Windu's men called the two Jedi Generals over to the war room to receive new orders from Master Kenobi. Skywalker gave an awkward goodbye after his big promise of spending time with them. Master Windu ordered Kisar to remain with the cadets on their tour until they reached a part of the ship close to their quarters so she could return to assembling her lightsaber. 

Kisar was left with the clone cadets and their instructor. She took a deep breath and put herself into a more military friendly stance with her back straight and her arms behind her back as Cody taught her. 

"Good morning, cadets. I am Padawan Kisar of the Jedi Order. You may call me Commander or Padawan. I serve under General Obi-wan Kenobi and Marshal Commander Cody with the 212th Attack Battalion. I will accompany you for the majority of this tour," She bared her teeth in a smile, "So be on your best behavior."

Again the cadets talked to each other in excitement about how cool it was to meet someone who was being trained by High General Kenobi as a Padawan and served with Commander Cody and the 212th, a legendary clone battalion in the GAR.

Their instructor, whose name Kisar had yet to get, swiftly ordered the clones that were the same age as her biologically but were chronologically half her age to follow him as they toured the cruiser. 

As they walked along, Kisar could feel the curious stares of the cadets on the back of her head so she called out in amusement, "If you have any questions, troopers, feel free to ask. This is an _instructive_ trip is it not?"

The cadets gave an embarrassed "Yes, sir!" at getting caught but one of them in the front hesitantly asked her what her species was. 

Kisar opened her mouth to reply when the voice of another cadet in the back, much more confident sounding than the last, beat her to it, "She's a Cathar."

The Padawan rose her eyebrows in surprise, more so at the accuracy of the answer than the cadet's rudeness. There was a strange tone in his voice as he said that too, almost as if he wasn't believing what he was seeing. Almost as if he recognized the significance of a Cathar Jedi. She shook her head in denial, Cody didn't even originally know the prophecy about Cathar Jedi in Mandalore and he was from the older more Mando-influenced generation of clones. There was no way a cadet knew about any of that.

The instructor scolded the cadet in the back of the group for his interruption. Kisar simply studied that cadet in puzzlement. There was something different about him in the Force. It was like looking in the mirror with someone too young yet so experienced in the harsher realities of life. Just like her.

"I didn't get either of your names, cadets?" She inquired to the hesitant one in the front and the confident one behind him. 

The hesitant one spoke first, "My name is Jax, Commander."

"Lucky." The more confident and strange one grunted out.

Kisar nodded her head and was disappointed once she realized they were now almost right next to her shared quarters with Master Windu, "I'll have to bid you all farewell now as I have to finish building my lightsaber."

The cadets were all still gushing about how cool it was that she was making a lightsaber as they rounded the corner and finished their tour. Kisar once again shook her head in amusement before entering the room and sitting down to concentrate on assembling the hilt around her crystals. 

She would figure out what was up with that strange cadet later. 

***

Kisar was tucked away in the corner of the room behind the bunks, unseen in the darkness as she meditated silently. The sound of the doors opening caught her attention but she assumed it was Master Windu and didn't open her eyes or search through the Force to check. 

That wasn't until her pointed ears picked up the sound of some kind of device being turned on. She opened her eyes in confusion to see the strange clone cadet, Lucky, had broke into her and Windu's room. He was fiddling with something by their doorway. It actually looked like he was setting a trap.

Kisar furrowed her eyebrows, "What the kriff do you think you're doing, cadet?" 

Lucky jumped before turning to her with a wild look in his eyes, "You're not supposed to be here! I thought you said Kenobi was your Master! Not Windu!"

Kisar frowned, was the cadet trying to kill Master Windu with that trap he set?

"You didn't answer my question," She growled as she slowly stood up and brandished her claws in a promise of harm.

The boy in front her gave a growl of his own and charged her. He attacked with surprisingly experienced and skilled moves. If Kisar hadn't trained so much with Cody, Lucky would have undoubtably won their match. Unfortunately, for Lucky, Kisar was just as well-trained and had the Force to assist her. 

After a few hits and misses from either side, Lucky was thrown into the back of the room by a Force push from Kisar. The Padawan snarled and swiped her clawed hand at Lucky's head, only to miss at the last moment when the unusual and dangerous cadet ducked out of the way. 

Her claw stuck into the metal of the wall and Kisar was temporarily unable to chase after the escaping clone. 

"Kisar!" It was Master Windu who reached her first, "What happened?"

Kisar shouted back to the Jedi Master, "Don't come in here! That cadet set a trap!"

Thankfully, the Jedi Master heeded her warning and stayed back from the doorway and remained in the hallway. 

Lucky must've had a remote detonation option, however, because even after Master Windu didn't step into the trap, the bomb went off anyways. 

She was too far away and partially shielded by the desk in front of her to be seriously injured by the explosion, but the blast still left a loud ringing in her ears as she blearily opened her eyes to assess the damage. The room was charred and mostly destroyed. Her beskar pieces and lightsaber crystals were luckily still safe in her bag in the corner at least.

Master Windu had been forced back into the wall of the hallway by the blast and looked to be injured. Kisar couldn't tell if it was deadly or not, but she couldn't take her chances. There was a dangerous rogue clone cadet on the loose and Master Windu was hurt, she had to do something. 

With a pained yowl, the Cathar ripped out her claw forcibly from the wall in front of her and rushed over to check on Master Windu. 

The Jedi Master groaned and looked to be unconscious when she gently turned him over to look for wounds. Kisar grunted in frustration and called out for assistance from any troopers nearby.

Thankfully, the alarms and sound of the blast had drawn plenty of troopers to their location and Master Windu was given immediate medical attention. 

Admiral Killian, the officer who was now in command for as long as Windu was unconscious, had contacted her on her comm trying to figure out what was going on.

"A clone cadet by the name of Lucky has attacked me and set an explosive that seriously injured General Windu. I suspect he'll try to inflict some more damage, Admiral."

The Admiral's voice was grim as he ordered, "Give the troopers a description of the cadet so that they may find him before he does any more damage to my ship."

Kisar nodded, "Yes, sir!"

After obeying the Admiral's orders, Kisar lead a small squad of troopers in her search to find Lucky. The ominous noises of several explosions going off throughout the ship echoed around them as they kept their eyes peeled for any signs of the rogue cadet.

The voice of Commander Ponds, a clone who had proven himself to be compassionate and honorable, came through her comm as Kisar was running through the hallways with the other troopers.

"Commander, we believe the traitor is heading towards the escape pods now. I think you're close enough to catch him before he does."

The Cathar Padawan agreed and turned around to hopefully intercept Lucky before he could escape. 

As she turned the corner to where the escape pods were, she became the one who was intercepted instead. Lucky was waiting for her with a blaster he probably stole from a trooper. The cadet's face was pinched in a serious scowl as he shot at Kisar and the clones behind her. 

She had managed to dodge the blaster bolts even in the tight space provided, but the troopers behind her had already fallen. Lucky was a devastatingly good shot and Kisar was already beginning to tire. She internally cursed herself for not being able to assemble her lightsaber. If she had had it, she wouldn't be wasting all this energy evading attacks. 

Lucky eventually ran out of ammo and decided to charge her with the blaster raised as a blunt instrument. The combination of the minor but still painful aches from the explosion and her own exhaustion were what slowed Kisar down enough for him to solidly hit her in the back of the head after a few tries. 

Kisar began to fall unconscious from the blow as she felt herself being dragged into one of the escape pods by the furious Lucky. 

The last thing she heard before everything went black was Lucky growling, "You ruined everything!"


	19. Chapter 19

Cody felt dread pool in his stomach when he received a message from a grim looking Kenobi saying he's needed in the _Negotiator's_ war room for an emergency meeting. 

His purposeful strides brought him to the war room from his office in record time. As he entered the meeting room, Cody was greeted with the sight of the bounty hunter Aurra Sing and a clone cadet standing over someone's small prone form on a hologram. His eyes widened when he recognized the form as Kisar. She appeared to be unconscious but was still breathing.

"Good, Cody," Kenobi gestured to the hologram projected over the table in the middle of the large room, "I'm afraid I have bad news. Kisar has been captured by Boba Fett and Aurra Sing after they attacked Master Windu's cruiser, the _Endurance_. Sing is now asking for Windu to be handed over to them in exchange for Kisar."

The assembled holograms of Jedi and clone officers had dire looks upon their faces as Cody stepped over to his Jedi General. With the foreboding knowledge of Kisar being in serious danger, the Marshal Commander struggled to keep himself calm.

"Sir, what are we going to do?" 

The Jedi Master shook his head gravely, "Our Jedi and Republic military forces are stretched thin and Master Windu is still too injured to be transported anywhere even if we were willing to make the trade. My concern is that it's only a matter of time before Spar finds out that Kisar is largely unprotected in the hands of bounty hunters. He was willing to attack an entire Jedi cruiser to get to her once, I don't doubt that this opportunity would be too good to miss."

Cody sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in between his fingers. The raging headache was increasing as the situation continued to worsen. Kisar was in the hands of a murderous Fett again and Cody was once again too far away to do anything about it. 

General Koon and Wolffe had offered to go after to her but Kenobi argued that such aggressive actions could get her killed either by it calling attention to Spar of her whereabouts or by having Aurra Sing simply execute Kisar and try to kill Windu again another time. 

"There may be another more subtle way to help our Padawan." General Plo was stroking the chin of his face mask with his clawed fingers.

Master Kenobi's eyebrows were raised in surprise, "What or who else could help Kisar if not us?"

The Kel Dor Jedi Master nodded, "There was a time when the Jedi Order called upon another force besides our new clone soldiers for these types of situations."

Cody was confused. What could General Koon be talking about? The Jedi didn't have a military force before they came. To his shock, General Kenobi made an understanding hum and looked to his fellow Jedi Master with recognition in his eyes. 

"The Antarian Rangers."

***

Kisar groaned as she slowly came back into consciousness. She glanced around her surroundings to see where she was and what her situation was like. 

She was in an enclosed room in the back of some ship judging by the humming of an engine below the floor where she laid. Her arms, legs, and tail were tied tightly to her body to limit her movement. She calmed her breathing and tried to logically think about why Lucky took her alive instead of leaving her on the ship or killing her. He wanted Windu dead and she wasn't Windu, maybe he thought having her as a hostage would draw out the Jedi Master?

The door slid open in from of her and Lucky walked through. His hard eyes appraised her, "Good. You're okay now."

"No thanks to you." Kisar grunted disdainfully. 

Lucky actually made a regretful face, "This wouldn't have happened if you didn't get in the way. Windu was the only one who was supposed to die today."

Kisar shook her head, "You'll have a lot more to worry about than just your remorse."

The traitorous cadet pulled a ration bar he probably saved from the _Endurance_ and placed it in front of Kisar's mouth, "You need to eat. I'll bring in some water later and look at your head wound. Aurra said it shouldn't be serious because of how fast you heal because you're a Force-sensitive and a Cathar."

A chill traveled up Kisar's spine at the casual mention of the name Aurra. It was a big galaxy and there were plenty of Aurra's within it, but an Aurra who would ally herself with a dangerous clone cadet who wanted to kill a Jedi Master was most likely Aurra Sing and Aurra Sing was not someone Kisar ever desired to meet. The feared bounty hunter was from Nar Shaddaa and was as cruel and merciless as the moon she came from. 

A female voice coldly called out to Lucky, "How's your little friend, Boba?"

Kisar's wide eyes switched back and forth between Lucky (Boba) and the aforementioned Aurra Sing in the doorway as she reluctantly ate the offered ration bar. The slim near-human bounty hunter had long spindly fingers and little hair on her blue head except for a ponytail. She also disturbingly had an antenna sticking out of her skull.

"You're Boba Fett." Kisar realized aloud. Everything made sense now. Master Windu killed Jango Fett and only the clone son of Jango Fett would be able to impersonate a regular cadet. 

Sing gave a mocking scoff, "Yes, he is, _Padawan_."

The bounty hunter crouched in front of Kisar and grabbed her jaw painfully with her long fingers, "And I'm sure Master Windu would be willing to give himself up for you. It's the way of the Jedi after all. Even if the Republic doesn't agree, we'll make them agree"

"It's not Master Windu and the Republic you should be worried about." Kisar warned the bounty hunters, "When the Mandalorian Supercommandos find out I'm no longer protected by any Jedi Masters or clone troopers, then you should be worried."

A male Klatooinian spluttered out from his position standing outside the room, "What does she mean by Mandalorian Supercommandos? Aurra, I didn't sign up for this."

Kisar shrugged with a dark smirk and turned to Boba, "Tell them, _Lucky_. Didn't Daddy Fett tell you about the prophecy? I'm sure all members of Fett Clan, recognized or not, know of it."

Boba Fett looked terrified like the kid he was at the furious looks from the grown bounty hunters as he defended himself, "I thought most Mandalorians just thought of it as some myth!"

" _Most_ " Aurra hissed before drawing a blaster and pressing it to Kisar's temple, "Tell me what 'myth' Boba is talking about."

Kisar showed off all of her teeth in a grisly smile as she cooed, "Some Dark Jedi a long time ago told a prophecy about a Cathar Jedi defeating a Fett _Manda'lor_ and avenging the Cathar people. Now every time a Cathar Force-sensitive is born, we're hunted down by some extremist Mandos and killed."

Aurra Sing's eye twitched as her trigger finger tensed. Kisar didn't advert her eyes from the barrel of the blaster and continued to stare it and Sing down. She was sick and tired of being scared, she would die with dignity.

After a full minute of deadly tension, Sing relented and withdrew the blaster before ordering Boba out of the room. When the young Fett demanded to know what they were going to do now, Sing just growled that they would "figure something out" before shutting the door on Kisar and leaving her alone in the room once more. 

The Cathar Padawan sighed in relief before thumping her head against the floor in frustration. 

"What are we going to do now, indeed, Boba."

***

The conversations muffled by the thick walls that Kisar could make out mostly were arguments between the bounty hunters as they debated what to do now that the Republic and a much less merciful group of Mandalorians were after them. 

Aurra Sing argued to just sell Kisar to Spar in order to remain both on his good side and on the good side of the Separatists and to find another way get Windu.

Boba argued that they should find a way to evade the Supercommandos and still trade Kisar off for Windu in order to kill him.

The cowardly Klatooinian male known as Castas kept arguing to just space Kisar to avoid even getting close to the potentially hostile Mandalorians.

The bounty hunter who spoke the least, a Trandoshan by the name of Bossk, simply said that he was willing to do whatever made the most profit. 

Finally, after hours of arguing, Kisar heard Aurra shout for them to try and contact Spar and see if he would be willing to buy Kisar at a predesignated location. If he disagreed, they would continue with their original plan, if not, Spar would pay them handsomely enough to make up for not having Windu for the time being. 

"Where should we try and sell the youngling to him if he agrees?" Bossk hissed curiously.

Sing hummed a bit before chuckling, "I have an old friend on Florrum who might just let us use his place to do the transaction."

***

Kisar was painfully held up by Bossk's scaly hand tangled in her mane as Sing began to try and contact Spar or any of his men. 

After a few tries, the Mandalorian Supercommando known as Tobbi Dala answered in a hologram, "Why 'ave ya contacted us?"

Kisar had acquired as much info as she could about Spar's forces after being attacked on the _Negotiator_. She knew Dala, he was as close to Spar as Fenn Shysa and was thought to be one of Spar's top lieutenants. 

Aurra Sing answered back coolly, "We have something that you want."

Dala's helmet tilted in consideration, "An' what makes ya so sure o' that?"

Sing gestured for Bossk to drag Kisar into Dala's view. No physical reactions came from the Supercommando after she was revealed, but Kisar knew Dala had recognized her.

"Ya've found our missin' cub apparently."

Kisar struggled against Bossk's grip while maintaining a glare with Dala's visor as he stared her down. Sing had then began to negotiate how Spar and his men would meet them to trade Kisar for a hefty sum of credits. 

That brought a chuckle from Dala, "Ya seem so sure that we'd be willing ta give ya credits fo' Padawan Kisar."

Sing's eyes narrowed, "And why wouldn't you be?"

The Mando crossed his arms over his chest and gestured to Boba Fett beside Aurra Sing. 

"We can't 'ave another Fett son of the former _Manda'lor_ be the one who captures the Cathar Jedi. It wouldn't be good for our _Manda'lor's_ reputation. We will be meeting ya shortly and will _take_ Padawan Kisar from ya by force. If we find that ya've killed her yerselves by the time we arrive, yer deaths won't be quick."

Dala actually removed his bucket so that Boba Fett could look him in the eye, "It's nothing personal, Boba. Perhaps if ya 'ad come ta us instead of ta these bounty hunters, Spar would 'ave adopted ya as his kin. But from what I've been hearing, ya don't accept any other clones as yer brothers anyways." 

With that, the Mandalorian shut off the communication and left the bounty hunters stunned. 

Castas was the first to speak as he began to exclaim that they should've spaced Kisar just as he asked them to. Sing growled at him to shut up and gave a bitter glare to Boba. 

The young Fett shrunk under her look. "Aurra, we can get out of this."

"How, Boba? They've probably already pinpointed where we contacted them from."

Boba thought for a moment with a panicked expression before turning to Sing again, relieved, "You didn't tell the Mando about Florrum yet. It's out of both Separatist and Republic space so maybe we could go there for a bit until we think of a new plan."

Bossk rumbled out in agreement, "I agree with Boba. We might even be able to still go through with our original plan and get some serious credits from the youngling if not by selling her on Florrum."

Castas reluctantly agreed but stated that he wanted to quit the job once they got to Florrum as he wasn't expecting so much trouble. Sing rolled her eyes and insulted him for being a coward but accepted his desire to leave the group. 

Kisar was promptly thrown back into the back room where she had been staying for the past couple of nights. 

Her eyes shot open as an idea came to her. They were going to Florrum. Hondo Ohnaka was on Florrum. Masters Obi-wan and Anakin knew Ohnaka and his methods. If they were heading there, Kisar might have a chance of escape after all. 

Kisar would take her chances with pirates over vengeful warriors and bounty hunters any day. 


	20. Chapter 20

Kisar decided that Florrum was her least favorite kind of place the moment she arrived there. It was far too hot and overheated her furred body. To make matters worse, Bossk had watched over her tied up form outside of the ship instead of inside.

The only comfort Kisar felt was that Bossk was not the talkative taunting type and merely stood silently behind her. She sighed as the glaring sun incessantly beat down upon her. She was beginning to feel sick from the heat.

Bossk's comlink went off as he grunted out, "Any news from Ohnaka?"

Aurra Sing's glacial voice responded, "He decided to let us use his base to lay low as we recontact the Republic."

"How do we know the Jedi and the Mandalorians don't already know where we are?"

Kisar was thinking the same thing as she laid still on the dusty ground.

"If Spar had found out where we are, he would have been here by now. As for the Republic, their lack of response is unusual. The fact that there's no chatter of any Jedi or clone battalions scouring the galaxy for our hostage is strange. The Jedi are up to something, and I'd rather not drag this out long enough to find out what." Sing drawled from her position with Hondo.

Bossk let out a low hiss at the thought, "Agreed, keep me updated."

Their conversation finished, Bossk decided to take it upon himself to inform Kisar.

"Sorry, little cub, looks like our time together may have just been extended."

The Trandoshan gave a growly chuckle, "Unless Aurra decides you're too much trouble."

Kisar rolled her eyes at his feet in order to hide her growing unease.

***

Cody's face was in his hands. His mind kept screaming for him to grab the fastest spaceship he could find and get Kisar and slowly kill every bounty hunter that took her.

He might even go after Spar while he was at it too.

The Marshal Commander sighed and rubbed at his face furiously in a desperate attempt to calm himself down. 

"Bad day, brother?" 

Cody turned to see his closest brother, Rex, leaning against the doorway to his office in the 212th occupied barracks. Not long after Kisar was captured, General Kenobi and the 212th were recalled back to Coruscant. That left Cody with no battle to distract him and only the mundane duties of paperwork. They had yet to prove to be effective.

He growled, "The image of her at the feet of that traitor and that witch bounty hunter keeps replaying through my head."

Rex nodded slowly as he carefully set down his helmet and strode around the desk to sit beside his brother and wrap his arm around him in comfort. 

"Cody, I can't even begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now. The little'un and I are close, but we don't come anywhere close to you two."

Cody shook his head with bitter frown, "Funny thing is, I don't remember giving a bantha's ass what happened to the little brat until....until Spar came and I wasn't there to protect her. I'm not there to protect her now either."

The 501st Captain grunted in displeasure before letting a sad smile reveal his nostalgic thoughts, "To be honest, brother, I have seen plenty of Commanders and Captains go a little soft and protective over the Padawans of their Generals and I never thought you would do the same even if Kenobi got another apprentice."

The scarred clone of Jango Fett turned to his blond brother in confusion. Rex lifted his hand to show he was not done speaking before continuing, "You were always so professional and cautious about those kinds of things. You aren't as compassionate as Ponds or even gruffly caring like Wolffe is, to some brothers, you have been seen as unfeeling like Neyo."

Cody felt a little hurt at the reminder of how he was seen by some of his brothers but still silently agreed with Rex's assessment on the unlikelihood of he and the kid's bond. He wasn't unaware of his reputation as an uncaring and cold CC who cared more about the reg manuals than his own flesh and blood. 

"When I was on Saleucami....I met someone who made me think about what our life could be like after the war. Cody, I think I want to have a family someday."

The 212th Commander turned to his brother in shock. They could get reconditioned if they were caught saying such things by nat-borns.

Rex nodded at his best friend's face, "And I think you do too. The kid.. _Kisar_....brought out some parental feelings in you. I think being around the Padawans has brought out a lot of parental feelings in a lot of us clones without us realizing it or even recognizing the feelings for what they are. We're men, not flesh-droids without the desire for a family. Jango had the same strong desire which is why we were even created. He wanted Boba and then he left us as soon as the Jedi we were made for came. Just because Fett didn't accept us as family doesn't mean we can't make a family of our own."

Cody wanted to vehemently disagree with his brother and shout at him for being so ridiculous but he knew he couldn't when Rex was completely right. He just hadn't wanted to admit the same thing to himself until he received validation from someone who felt and thought the same way.

He exhaled slowly, "I know, brother. When the kid demanded that I train her so that she could do her best to prevent more unnecessary deaths amongst my men-amongst _our_ men, I began to see her as family just like I see you and all of our brothers. The more time I spent training her, the stronger those feelings got. I used to look down on Waxer and Boil for being so unprofessional and soft on the kid. And now...."

"And now what?" Rex coaxed. 

The Marshal Commander of 36,864 clone troopers of the 7th Sky Corps in the Grand Army of the Republic turned to his brother and gave a terrifying bloodthirsty grin.

"Now I'd like to personally show the galaxy that _no one_ lays a finger on my family without retaliation."

Captain Rex shivered at the vicious look in his favorite brother's eyes. 

_And they say he was the dangerous clone_.

"How are you going to do that?"

Cody chuckled darkly as he began to put on his gear.

"I'm going to find these Antarian Rangers and _convince_ them that it is in their best interest to allow me to join them as they go after Kisar."

***

Cody didn't know what to expect when he asked General Kenobi to show him where the Antarian Rangers usually assembled for missions such as this. He correctly predicted Kenobi would know why he was asking and what he was planning to do. He could have never guessed that Kenobi would not only tell him where the Rangers were, but also personally escort him to their area of operations and then ask to speak to their leader.

The head Antarian Ranger, a Feeorin by the name of Solm, was an intimidating figure who didn't seem like the friendly type to allow just anybody into his operations. Cody could respect that as a leader himself, but was not appreciative of the Ranger's aversion to his inclusion at that moment. 

His General, ever the negotiator, did his best to placate the Ranger and the Commander enough so that they wouldn't strangle each other. 

"Come now, Solm. My Commander is more than capable enough to accompany you and your men. I don't see why this is such an issue?"

The Feeorin crossed his bulky arms over his chest, "I have the utmost respect for you and your word on whether or not he is good, Master Kenobi, but I cannot let an _outsider_ into our assignment."

The Jedi Master lifted an eyebrow, "Cody is no outsider, I can assure you. He is loyal to the Jedi and to me."

"He is loyal to the _Republic_ first, old friend. Not to our Order. The Ankarian Rangers are not even considered part of the Republic's forces by the few non-Jedi that know of us. That is because we dedicate ourselves solely to the Jedi and therefore only indirectly serve the Republic. If you went and joined the Separatists right now, we would join you. _He_ wouldn't."

It was Cody's turn to raise his eyebrows now. The Ranger had made a bold but eye-opening statement. He was loyal to his General, yes, but would he join the Separatists or act against Republic orders for his sake? 

General Kenobi sighed, "Perhaps you are right. I doubt he would betray the Republic for me."

Solm nodded, obviously satisfied. 

His General wasn't finished. 

"But he has already proven that he would at least break regs for my Padawan. Just by being here without being explicitly asked to, Commander Cody is risking some serious backlash from his higher-ups."

The Ranger before them looked displeased for a few moments at that audacious admission from the Jedi Master and Council member. Cody was convinced he would still be turned down even after his General's little speech, but Solm eventually shook his head with a rueful smile and addressed the respected Jedi. 

"I should have known better than to engage in a war of words and persuasion with the famed _Negotiator_."

The Ranger turned to Cody, "If you're really as dedicated to this Padawan as your General claims, this is your time to prove if you're really Ranger material. We are the best of the best and only those of the same caliber can keep up with us."

Cody straightened his back at the challenge, "With all due respect, sir, I am amongst only a little more than a handful of brothers who have the highest rank of Marshal Commander that any clone can get. I have been trained by the best to be the best. You won't have to worry about me keeping up with you. You'll have to worry about you and your men keeping up with _me._ "

Solm stared him down intensely as he assessed Cody's answers and if he could really back up his words. Cody didn't back down from his gaze and held it for as long as the Ranger would. There was no way he would just sit there and do nothing while the kid was in danger. He needed Solm to realize he was unwavering in his commitment to help his Jedi. 

Ranger and clone alike had to unite in their goal to serve the Jedi when no one else would. 

The Feeorin snorted in approval after minutes of tension, "Welcome to the Antarian Rangers, Commander."

Solm then turned around and resumed directing the Rangers to ready themselves for various assignments. Cody exhaled in relief before looking to his General curiously.

"Why did you help me, General? You said it yourself that I am not allowed to do this without explicit permission and the GAR's full awareness." 

The Human Jedi beside him smiled dryly, "I can be distracted at times because of this Force-forsaken war, Cody, but I am not entirely blind either. It seems my Padawan has the great fortune of having two mentors to train her and guide her through life now."

Cody spluttered in shock, "Sir! I would never want to get in your way or presume that I could do any better than you as a teacher!"

Kenobi clasped his Commander's armored shoulder, "I know. I'm glad she has you. With Anakin and now Ahsoka needing my guidance alongside Kisar, it's good that you can be there for her whenever I cannot. And with how my duties as a Council member in this war have been, those times are becoming far too numerous."

The clone Commander shakily nodded and saluted gratefully.

His General hummed in approval.

"Bring our Padawan home, my friend."

***

Cody silently readied himself for takeoff as he sat in a shuttle surrounded by uncongenial Antarian Rangers. 

_If only my brothers could see me now._

"What's your name, soldier?" A husky female drawled lazily not too far away from him.

Cody lifted his gaze to make eye contact with an unconventionally attractive Human woman a few seats away from him. With a quick sweeping of his eyes, he observed that she was young, yet older than him in both a biological and chronological sense, with a sturdily built frame and a miniature arsenal of weapons strapped to her tactical clothing. 

"Cody," He nodded to her in greeting, "What about yours, Ranger?"

She lifted her lips in a smirk that showed off some light scars on her face, "Tara. Tara Warren."

He gave her another nod and assumed that meant the conversation was over. He had never been good at small-talk with non-clones. Kriff, he had never been good at small-talk with anyone if he was being honest.

"I wonder why you decided to join us on our merry little quest to save the Padawan? From what I've heard, you clone troopers are as rule-abiding as they come due to your _conditioning_."

Cody didn't so much as flinch at her blunt words. He had heard much worse from his dealings with nat-born officers and politicians. He knew exactly what he was and why he was that way. He didn't always like it, but he wasn't one to rock the boat either. Unless the kid was involved, apparently.

"I know _the Padawan_. You don't."

Warren chuckled mockingly, "Didn't you hear that attachment's not the Jedi way? Believe me, we Rangers of all people know how endearing Jedi can be, but most of us that ever try to step over that line, walk away disappointed."

Cody narrowed his eyes, " _Most_."

Warren snorted and dipped her head in concession, "Most."

She looked him over appraisingly and Cody sucked in a breath in shock. If he didn't know any better, and he really didn't know any better, he would almost guess that she was checking him out the same way he had seen normal women look at normal men. 

Something neither of them were.

"You really are determined to save that youngling, aren't you, Commander?" She observed with bewilderment coloring her tone.

"Us clones have a different view of duty and family than most people due to our conditioning, Miss Warren," he admitted, "But the importance and predisposition of looking out for each other is one thing almost all clones hold close to our hearts. We may not have a lot but we have our brothers, our family. I have served with Padawan Kisar for almost a year now, and with how short my life has been, that's more than long enough to consider her to be family too."

Warren made an agreeing noise and shifted her body forward with a teasing smile, "Call me, Tara, Commander. I'm not a soldier nor a Jedi Knight that outranks you. To some, I'm not even part of the Republic. We are equals with the united goal of taking care of our reckless Jedi."

Cody swallowed at the thought of dropping formalities with someone who was not of lower rank than him or a brother.

"If you want me to call you Tara, then you should call me by my name too." 

Tara gave him a triumphant grin and tested his name out, "Cody...I like it."

She again gave him a slow inspection and Cody couldn't help but feel like she wasn't just stating that she liked his name. A bit of red crept onto his cheeks at the thought. He had never considered himself pleasing to look at since he shared the same body and face as millions of other men yet Tara seemed to like what she saw.

When she swept her eyes up to look him in his eyes, Tara's face sobered again. Cody's mind spun from all of the mood changes this woman was experiencing during their conversation. 

"If the galaxy had more men like you, we'd both be out of our jobs." 

Cody snorted at that before he could stop himself, "If more men were like me, the galaxy would be a lot more boring too from what I've heard from my brothers and the kid. They enjoy reminding me of how much of a killjoy and rule-stickler I am, though the kid is usually the only one stupid enough to do it while she's sparring with me when I can actually fight back."

Tara actually let out a husky laugh at his response, "Then let's get this _kid_ home safely so she can live to annoy you till you wipe the floor with her another day." 

Cody couldn't agree more. 


	21. Chapter 21

Kisar moaned miserably as she lay overheated in the desert sand of Florrum. Her head was spinning and she could barely comprehend what was going on. Kisar was becoming nauseous enough to the point where she was worried that she would vomit the little food she had been given and worsen her condition.

Bossk had done little to help her. After it became obvious that Kisar was getting seriously sick from the heat, the Trandoshan dragged her into the ship's shadow to cool her off slightly. Kisar wanted to beg him to guard her inside of the ship, but she was too tired to and her tongue felt so dry and heavy. She suspected that Bossk preferred being in the sun anyway as a reptilian sentient and would only do the bare minimum to keep Kisar alive.

"Bossk!" Sing's voice yelled through the comm, "There's an approaching ship that's about to land near Hondo's base."

The Trandoshan growled, "Is it the Republic?"

"It's hard to tell. They look like the normal crowd that would do business with Hondo but be prepared for anything."

"Understood."

Kisar was focusing on their exchange and trying to create a game plan in her dizzy head to escape the bounty hunters. If the new arrivals were really just normal criminals that Hondo hosts, then she'll have to find her own way to get free. If they are Republic, hopefully she'll get some help.

A hard kick to her side painfully broke her thoughts. Kisar yelped and desperately kept her mouth closed to keep herself from vomiting. 

Bossk's voice hissed from above her, "You're not out of the woods yet, cub."

Kisar glared up at her captor's face even in her nauseated state. The sickness in her body was clouding her thoughts and judgement. Her next words were recklessly idiotic as a result. 

" _E chu ta! Murishani kung! Tah-koh tee womp rat e'nachu!_ "

The Trandoshan, given his line of work, obviously had fair grasp of Huttese and therefore was not happy with Kisar's insults. Bossk had let a furious roar and slammed his ginormous fists down on Kisar's tied up form.

The Padawan swung her body out of the way as best as she could, but in her mostly immobile state, she couldn't completely avoid his attack. His fists landed on her legs and tail from where they were roped together in a loud crack as several bones broke. The Trandoshan's raw strength that was natural to his species easily snapped her bones.

Kisar screamed and writhed on the ground in pain. Bossk grunted in approval and took a few steps away to resume his position of watching out for threats or would-be rescuers. He didn't bother to move her back into the safety of the shade and left her in the heat as further punishment for her disrespect.

Her legs and tail were throbbing in agony as she shuddered under the desert sun. Kisar was beginning to wonder how much longer she could hold out in her condition. 

She could only hope that Bossk would yet again at least do the bare minimum to keep her alive once she was on the brink of unconsciousness. 

***

Hondo Ohnaka was a smart man. 

He may not win any academic accolades but Cody could tell that he knew who they were and what they were there for the moment they landed. He bowed and welcomed them in his usual fashion and continued to act like nothing was out of the ordinary as well. Cody suspected that he wanted those bounty hunters off his planet but didn't want to go through the trouble of removing them himself. 

The fact that Aurra Sing and Boba Fett did not recognize them when Ohnaka did further went to show how sharp the pirate leader was. 

Cody had stayed on board the ship to make sure neither his face nor his armor would give the Rangers away as allies to the Jedi. Solm had quietly informed him that he and some other Rangers would go and enter the bar area where Sing and Fett were and try to spy on them. If they were found out, the Rangers would then try and send Cody and a few more of their men into the surrounding area to find Kisar themselves.

He didn't like the plan. It had too many holes. Florrum was a vast desert planet and if he just left the ship to start looking for the kid, it would take a miracle to find her. No, they needed help finding Kisar.

Tara Warren and a Twi'lek man by the name of Alo had stayed behind with him on the ship as they remained ready for Solm to give the word. 

He could hear through Solm's open comlink that Sing had noticed their presence and was trying to subtly interrogate them to see if they were there for Kisar.

He held his breath as Boba's suspicious voice could be heard asking, "What business are you in?"

Solm answered back smoothly, "Whatever pays the best, I'm a man of several occupations."

"Have you heard of any Republic cruisers in this system?"

"I hear of lots of things, but it's not my business to care about what I hear."

Boba sounded more frustrated as the conversation continued, "I'm not asking if you care, I'm asking if you heard anything!"

"Boba! _Behave._ " Sing's coldly snapped.

Solm chuckled lightly as if he weren't being interrogated by two paranoid and trigger-happy bounty hunters, "It's alright. I admire the spunk in the boy. If it matters that much to you, I heard there was a Jedi cruiser on its way right now. I doubt it has actually arrived in the system as of yet though. Why do you ask? Get into any trouble with the Republic?"

Sing answered this time, "If you hear so much then you've probably heard about the Jedi cruiser that was rendered immobile due to interior damage."

Solm grunted out a yes and asked if that was her handiwork.

Sing continued, "I wouldn't take credit for that, no. We saw it though. A man such as yourself with so many _occupations_ would probably do well to avoid that part of the galaxy until it's no longer crawling with Republic troops."

"I appreciate the advice."

The bounty hunter hmmphed in amusement, "I don't see many Feeorin these days. I have only known of one. I never met him but he worked with my former _employers_. Perhaps you know him?"

Dread filled Cody's veins as Sing seemed to finally recognize something was off with Solm. She didn't recognize him earlier but perhaps being so close to and actually talking to Solm sparked her memory? The Antarian Rangers were a group that only a few non-Jedi knew about so Cody wondered how Sing could've known of Solm.

"Perhaps I do. As you said, Feeorin come few and far between and therefore are closer than most other races. What was his name?"

Cody, Tara, and Alo had their blasters ready as they listened to the conversation verge on going south. The Rangers within the bar were probably doing the same in a much more subtle fashion. 

"Solm. He served with someone I used to know very well. Does the name sound familiar?"

They were compromised. 

"You know who I am now then, Sing? It doesn't surprise me. The Dark Woman told me you were always clever." Solm drawled as Cody heard the sounds of safeties being switched off in the bar. A standoff must have just started.

"I'm sure she told you all sorts of things. I'm surprised you still have a job with the war going on now. The Jedi have a new force to look out for them."

"For situations like this, our expertise is still indispensable. Where's the Padawan, Aurra?"

"Unless you have Windu on you, you're getting nothing out of me. You're the expert. Figure it out." Sing sounded smug.

Cody growled and barely resisted the urge to run out of the ship and make Sing talk himself.

"Holding a youngling as a hostage is low, Aurra. You were so hopeful and promising when you were that age yourself. How could you hurt a child that's just like you were?" Solm questioned with a sad tone. 

"I'll do whatever it takes to help Boba."

"You must have realized by now that you're surrounded and Ohnaka won't assist you. It's just you, Boba, and whoever has Padawan Kisar. You don't stand a chance."

Aurra Sing hissed, "We'll see about that."

Blaster shots rang through the bar and Cody could no longer hear any dialogue if any still occurred. He narrowed his eyes under his bucket and decided that he had enough of this kriffing plan. He was going in and finding Boba so he could learn Kisar's whereabouts, no matter what it took to make Boba give up the information.

Tara and Alo shouted out for him to stop as he exited the ship.

"Cody! Solm hasn't said we could leave the ship yet!"

"I specifically remember him saying wait until Plan A of gathering information incognito no longer worked. In case the blaster fire hasn't tipped you both off, Plan A is no longer working." Cody yelled back without so much as slowing down or seeing if they decided to join him.

As he entered the bar, Cody could see several tables tipped over to provide cover for both sides. Sing and Boba were both doing an admirable job of holding off the larger group of Rangers but Cody could tell they were outmatched and it was only a matter of time before they ended up in cuffs or in bags. 

Solm had managed to sneak his way around the tables and was about to pounce on Sing from behind. The Antarian Ranger had guts, Cody would give him that. 

The two bounty hunters yelled in surprise when the large Feeorin barreled into Sing's form and engaged in close-combat with her. Boba had raised his own blaster to shoot the Ranger but Cody was there before he could pull the trigger.

"Hey there, _vod_."

Boba Fett's eyes were wide in shock as he was apprehended by his fellow clone.

"Aurra! Aurra! Help me!" The young Fett shouted in desperation but soon realized that his partner had abandoned him as she fought Solm and was obviously trying to escape on her own from the Rangers. 

Cody had little sympathy for the boy who estranged himself from the other clones. He lifted Boba by the collar of his shirt and growled menacingly in his ear. "Where is the Padawan, traitor?"

"I won't tell you anything!"

The increasingly unhinged Marshal Commander switched his grip from Boba's collar to his throat and squeezed in warning, "I promise you that you'll never get the chance to fit into Jango's armor if you don't tell me where Kisar is _right.now_."

The boy gasped in fright and wheezed again that he wouldn't give the information up. Cody let out a feral snarl while he tightened his grip until Boba's air supply was completely cut off. The young bounty hunter was weakly struggling as he was held off the ground in the Commander's grip and was losing his grip on consciousness. 

When it seemed like the traitor would pass out, Cody loosened his grip enough for Boba to gasp in some air. He waited for the boy to collect himself enough to think semi-coherently and coldly asked him again if he was willing to talk now.

"Come now, trooper. There is no need for such _brutal_ methods on a child is there?" Ohnaka's voice startled both Cody and Boba as the two clones turned to the Weequay pirate as he held up his hands in a placating motion.

"He won't tell me where the kid is." Cody hissed as he again began to tighten his grip on Boba's neck. He was growing more and more desperate.

"Tell the soldier what he wants to know, Boba." Ohnaka urged the boy.

"Why should I help anybody? I've got no one." Boba bitterly wheezed after Cody removed his hands from around his throat reluctantly. 

"It is the honorable thing to do. It's what your father would have wanted." Ohnaka placed his hand on Boba's shoulder in persuasion.

Boba closed his eyes to blink away the tears of fear, frustration, and pain and turned back to face Cody's still murderous expression. He muttered out the location of where Kisar was and said that Bossk likely hadn't killed her yet as neither he nor Aurra got the chance to warn him of the Rangers. 

Cody was on the nearest speeder in record time after throwing Boba Fett into the arms of a grim faced Ranger. 

_I'm coming, kid._

***

Kisar knew Bossk hadn't received any updates from Aurra Sing in a while. That was either a really good sign or a really bad sign. 

Bossk was getting impatient and kept lowly hissing as he shuffled from clawed foot to foot. He kept activating his comm and trying to contact Sing but she never answered his attempts. 

"Bad news, cub. If I don't hear from her soon, I'm gone, and you're fried." Bossk admitted with a shrug as he hefted his gigantic blaster up onto his shoulder. 

Kisar weakly nodded to show she understood before thumping her head back onto the ground. Her eyes drifted closed as sleep overtook her. The now dull throbbing ache in her legs and tail weren't even enough to keep her from sleeping in her exhausted state.

After what was probably only a few minutes, Kisar felt a swift kick to her side and awakened with a groan. 

"Time's up, cub." Bossk announced before aiming his blaster at her curled up form.

The sound of a speeder rapidly approaching interrupted her execution and Kisar managed to flop her head enough to the side where she could see someone in clone trooper armor driving their way. As he got closer, Kisar could make out familiar yellow markings on his armor that identified him. 

Bossk growled and took aim at the Marshal Commander as he came closer at high speeds.

None of his shots landed on the speeder and Cody responded with shots of his own with the vehicle's weapons. They did hit their target. 

Bossk was gunned down and fell to the ground not far from where she was laying. The gaping and sizzling holes in his body were so numerous that Kisar wouldn't have recognized him if she had not seen his death herself. There was a lot more rage in that killing than usual for the nigh unflappable Cody. 

Her attention on Bossk's corpse was averted once familiar hands firmly grasped her face and turned her to look into Cody's relieved eyes. 

"You're okay, kid. I'm here. Cody's here." The clone kept repeating as he gathered up her sick and broken form and carefully settled her on his lap on the speeder to be transported back to their ship. 

Kisar weakly clutched at his armor with all of the strength she had left and let his Force presence comfort her. 

Just as it always did. 

***

Cody protectively watched over Kisar's unconscious form in the ship's medical bay. He hadn't left her side ever since he found her about to shot by Bossk. Anytime someone would approach Kisar, even if it was just the medical droid, the clone Commander would watch them with distrustful eyes with a hand on the blaster on his lap, ready to protect the Padawan. 

"Commander," Solm urged, "She's safe now. You can put the blaster away. You're among friends."

Cody looked around at the wary Rangers as they eyed his tense form. He sighed and consciously relaxed himself but did not put away the blaster nor did he step away from the kid. The last time he wasn't there to watch over her, she was kidnapped and brought to near death through sickness and injuries inflicted on her by sadistic bounty hunters. He wasn't leaving her side anytime soon.

"Sorry." He grunted out for the Ranger's sake as he watched them relax a bit and nod at him in understanding. 

"It's okay," Solm comforted, "A lot of us have worked closely with individual Jedi too and have gotten the same way."

"We've even done some pretty low things to save our Jedi too." Tara added in understanding. 

Cody still felt a little defensive, "He wasn't going to give up the information to save her unless I did something."

"Still, Boba was just a kid. Choking him was a little too far. If Ohnaka hadn't stopped you....." One of the younger Rangers reasoned. 

"I was not trained to be compassionate or merciful like the Jedi. I was trained to do whatever it takes to get things done." Cody responded back coldly as he remembered his training and what Rex told him about his reputation. 

He was willing to strangle a child to death to save Kisar that day. Cody would admit after the fact that he did feel a little regretful but he wouldn't take back what he did if he had a choice. He would do whatever it takes to protect his family.

His thoughts went to another traitor brother of his, Spar. Spar was also willing to kill kids and had killed Kisar's crechmates. Cody wondered if he really was all that different from the _Manda'lor_. Spar was willing to do whatever he thought was necessary for the good of Mandalore and Cody was willing to do whatever he thought was necessary for the good of the Republic and his family. 

Cody shook his head at the grim thought process and switched his attention back to his slowly healing Padawan as she slept in a safe space for the first time in over a week. 

Kisar may have been a soft spot of his alongside his closest brothers, but Cody knew he still had a lot of hardness left in him. The large bruises that were the exact shape of his hands around the subdued Fett's neck proved it.

The boy had been looking at him with terrified eyes ever since he had choked him into near unconsciousness twice. He thought that Cody was a monster. He might even be right.

And Cody found he was perfectly fine with that.

***

** Translations **

_Vod:_ brother

 _E chu ta!:_ General expletive and insult. 

_Murishani kung!_ : Bounty hunter scum!

 _Tah-koh tee womp rat e'nachu!:_ You'll end up womp rat food.


	22. Chapter 22

Kisar's healing process was arduous and far from short even under the care of the Jedi Healers. Her journey back to the safety of Coruscant had mere moments of bleary consciousness with the rest of what happened a mystery.

All she remembered was Cody's angry presence hovering over her. She knew he wasn't angry at her but it still discontented her in her out of it state. Kisar weakly called out the clone's name in concern and watched his thunderous expression melt away into his familiar default stern one as he ran his hand over her feverish furred forehead.

"Go back to sleep, kid. I've got you."

The next time she was even close to being awake, Kisar was back in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant under the watchful care of Jedi Healers.

Her stomach slowly eased into comfortable relief and her legs and tail were healing properly. Kisar chuckled and joked with a unamused Jedi Healer by the name of Bant Eerin that she had an interesting habit of breaking her legs whenever she faced bounty hunters.

Cody also had the interesting habit of magically appearing and shooting her attacker whenever Kisar's legs were broken and she was about to be killed.

The Marshal Commander had avoided her like the plague ever since she was safely delivered back to the Jedi. Kisar did receive other clone visitors such as Waxer, Boil, Helix, Wooley, and Foxtrot Squad.

Helix, ever the dedicated medic, kept asking Kisar how she was feeling and kept offering advice to a bemused Master Eerin. He even began to rant to no one in particular about how he had the misfortune of looking after the most reckless Jedi in the galaxy. Kisar was huffing in embarrassment during the medic's rant but wisely remained silent in order to not incur the worked up medic's wrath.

Wooley, someone she had slowly become close with, looked at her healing legs and tail with narrowed eyes. He quietly mumbled to her to never do that again. To Kisar's surprise, his mumbling had a sharp edge to it. He wasn't asking her to never do it again, Wooley was ordering her to never do it again. He had changed from the originally wide-eyed shiny that Kisar went through her first battle with.

Waxer and Boil were practically driven mad with anxiety the first time Kisar saw them after her rescue. The two clone brothers had grasped at her hands and held them tight as they demanded that she never disappear on them again. Kisar desperately wanted to return their physical embrace, but the eyes of the Jedi were all around her. There may have been a time when attachment was allowed in the Jedi Order, but that time had long since passed.

She simply settled for verbally reassuring them and joking that she'll let them know the next time she gets kidnapped by murderous and unstable bounty hunters. That got her a smack upside the head by both Waxer and Boil which actually made Master Eerin stifle a chuckle behind her hand.

Foxtrot was much more subtle in their worry for her and relief that she was still alive which didn't surprise Kisar. They were Commandos, and even the softest of Commandos weren't exactly openly affectionate or warm.

Captain Gregor, their leader, patted her on the head and congratulated her on surviving yet another seemingly impossible situation with a vengeful Fett. He informed Kisar that she was needed for another legendary sabacc game so that they could boast to the other special forces soldiers about _their_ clever Jedi.

Aid, their medic, fussed over her in a similar manner to Helix, but focused his frustrations on her instead of on the surrounding Jedi Healers. Kisar was throughly chastised by the end of his rant on how reckless she was with her health.

Savvy, the smooth-talking and heart-breaking member of their squad, hid his concerns under his usual calm and collected exterior. However, Kisar could tell that he was feeling a little more protective than usual as he kept offering to go after Aurra Sing with the rest of Foxtrot.

Lastly, Rush, their trigger-happy and temperamental member, did not hold back in his rage against the bounty hunters and whole-heartedly agreed with Savvy's offer. The intimidating scarred Commando kept glaring at her healing legs and tail as if they deeply offended him.

The fury and worry that permeated the room from the presence of her men caused the Healers to shoo them out sternly. When some of them argued to stay, Master Eerin firmly disagreed and stated that their negative emotions were affecting their Force healing, and therefore affecting Kisar's recovery.

She was left alone by her men for the rest of her healing process. Only Jedi could visit her. Ahsoka, Skywalker, Master Yoda, Master Windu, and her own Master visited her several times.

Masters Windu and Kenobi were especially contrite once they saw Kisar's injured and sick form for the first time. Kenobi had swiped his hand down the bandages on her body ever so gently as he emanated regret in the Force.

"My dear Padawan. You seemed to have inherited my bad luck."

Kisar chuckled as she held his hand and squeezed it in comfort, "I have had terrible luck long before I met you."

"Still," he shook his head with a sad smile, "I feel as though you being my apprentice hasn't helped that luck one bit."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Kisar admitted but to her shame she wasn't talking about Kenobi himself, she was talking about the other leader of the 212th.

Kenobi probably sensed her true-meaning but didn't appear to be too bothered by it. His tolerance never ceased to amaze Kisar. Then again, she knew she couldn't compete with the bond between Skywalker and Kenobi, why should he expect to compete with her bond with Cody?

Not long after, Master Windu had arrived by her bedside once Master Kenobi left to attend to his duties. The Korun Jedi Master appeared emotionless on the outside but Kisar knew from her experience with emotionally repressed people that when their faces go completely blank, they're hiding intense feelings.

"Padawan Kisar, I trust you're healing well?"

"Everything is fine, Master Windu." Kisar hesitated before adding, "Thank you for coming to see me. I know you have a lot of duties as a High General and Council member so I appreciate you taking the time to see me."

The bald man closed his eyes and briefly looked pained at her words but eventually collected himself again, "It was my own past that brought you this pain. It would be heartless of me to not see if you are alright."

Kisar chuckled dryly and surprised the Jedi Master, "Master Windu, I of all people should not hold the fact that you had a vengeful Fett attack your cruiser against you."

Master Windu had his eyebrows raised as his mask crumbled and his relief shone through. "Well said, young one."

The Cathar Padawan nodded and directed a gummy smile to the tired Jedi Master. However, even her famous winning smile did not bring a mirroring look to his face. There was something else on his mind. Something else he needed to say.

"Master, is something wrong?"

Master Windu turned his gaze to her and Kisar audibly gasped at the raw emotion in his eyes. Plenty of Jedi thought Master Windu was as in control of his emotions as someone could be. Kriff, Kisar knew that Ahsoka and Master Skywalker liked to joke about him not feeling anything at all like a droid. Yet, the legendary and feared Jedi Master was proving those rumors and beliefs wrong while he maintained eye contact with the shocked Padawan.

"Kisar," Master Windu looked like he'd rather be anywhere else at that moment, "I'm assuming Master Kenobi informed you of where you are from and what happened to your village of origin?"

Kisar swallowed thickly, "Yes, Master."

"Did he tell you which Jedi found you and took you back to the Temple?"

"No, Master." She admitted and admitted to him that she did see the slaughter of her people in a vision while obtaining her lightsaber crystals. Kisar also saw that two Jedi figures found her but she only saw the back of their robes and couldn't identify them.

Master Windu nodded and sighed as he gently placed his large hand on the side of Kisar's face and cupped it so she could look right at him as he spoke, "Master Hosep and I were the ones who found you all those years ago. Because of Master Hosep's experience with Mandalorians, we both were called in as a team to investigate the rumors of a Mandalorian attack on a remote settlement on Cathar."

He paused and closed his eyes in memory, "We found you amongst so many bodies and we found your dying father as he used the last of his strength to tell us your name. When we picked you up from his arms, you were so _small_ , so precious. You survived as a baby what the adults and even a trained warrior such as your father could not. We knew then and there that you were the one who would fulfill the prophecy."

Kisar didn't know how to process that information, "Why didn't you tell me that you and Master Hosep found me? Ahsoka has a great relationship with her finder, Master Plo, why did you not want that with me?"

Master Windu looked old and worn down as he answered, "Master Hosep and I became extremely devoted to the Jedi Code as we aged. When we both held you for the first time, we knew we couldn't keep in contact with you as we would've formed an attachment. Master Hosep finally felt confident enough in his control that he decided to be a Jedi escort for your Initiate Trials so that he could pick you as a Padawan inconspicuously."

"He never got the chance." Kisar sadly mumbled.

"No, he did not." Windu agreed as he mourned his fallen friend and clanmate for a moment, "I would have accepted you as my own Padawan if the Force had not directed you so strongly to Master Kenobi."

She sighed and forced herself to not react angrily to his confession, "I understand why you and Master Hosep did what you did but can you understand that I feel abandoned?"

The Jedi Master nodded slowly as he drew away his hand from her face, "Kisar, if you need anything, you can think of me as a second Master now, similar to Padawan Tano's relationship with Master Plo. Please accept this belated support as a sign of new beginnings."

Kisar blew some air out from her nose and grunted in agreement. The Force felt powerful at that moment as if their conversation had righted a wrong and slid a puzzle piece in place. The overwhelming urge to construct her lightsaber in that right atmosphere came over Kisar.

She turned to her secondary Master and quietly asked him to retrieve her beskar pieces and lightsaber crystals. It was time for her to complete her Initiate Trials. It was unusual for her to become a Padawan before completing her trials and building her lightsaber but Kisar was unusual herself.

As Master Windu placed the parts to her future lightsaber on her lap, Kisar breathed deeply and let the Force guide her in a way it hadn't before in previous attempts. When she tried in the past, Kisar always felt like she was swimming through thick mud and couldn't really go anywhere. Now, what she had to do was abundantly clear. It took her reconnection to the Jedi who saved her in order for the Force to finally cooperate.

She closed her eyes and lifted her hands to levitate the pieces. Even though she couldn't physically see anything, Kisar saw what she was doing clearly through the Force. She watched as the beskar wrapped around the crystals to form a hilt shape with a wicked sharp edge on either end. If her lightsaber would be deactivated, she would still have a fully functioning beskar weapon. Her lightsaber finished its formation and Kisar opened her eyes to gaze upon it.

Her new weapon reflected her personality and style perfectly as any lightsaber should with their master. It's deadly design revealed her method of taking dangerous measures. She needed a weapon that would successfully have the same grit. The beskar and the two crystals combined to form a dual-bladed lightsaber reminiscent of her father's own weapon. The double-bladed design originally came from the Sith but eventually was adopted by more aggressive Jedi such as Kisar. She was a Jedi Guardian. She was a warrior among peacekeepers. When negotiations failed with her more peaceful comrades, Kisar would come in with her own _permanent_ methods.

With a simple press of a button on the side of her hilt, the first blue blade activated and Kisar pressed the button again to activate the other end's blue blade. She was in a daze as she carefully moved around the two blades and tested them out. 

"It's a fine weapon, Kisar. An uncommon design amongst Jedi nowadays but still common enough to have resources to learn how to wield it." Master Windu complimented while watching her swing her blades experimentally. 

"Does this mean I'm a real Padawan now?" Kisar asked in a teasing voice.

The Korun Jedi actually chuckled at her response, "Of course. How do you wish to celebrate?"

Kisar hummed and thought carefully before answering, "I think I'd like to show it to my friends. They've all been worried sick for me since the little... _situation_ and I think this celebration will lift their spirits _._ "

Master Windu agreed with her and patted her mane before leaving and letting her get some rest. One more night of healing and Kisar will be healthy enough to walk out of her medical bed. 

As Kisar laid down to sleep on that bed for the last time, one thought came to her mind. Cody hadn't visited her and didn't answer her calls. She didn't remember a lot of what happened after Cody found her and brought her back to Coruscant with some Antarian Rangers but she did remember the constant overprotective presence of the clone as he prevented anyone else from getting close to her that he viewed as a threat.

Kisar wanted Cody to be there when she decided to celebrate her lightsaber being completed. She had to find a way to convince him to talk about what's wrong so that she could restore their bond. Kisar needed to find a way to draw him out so that she could talk.

She had an avoidant Marshal Commander to corner.


	23. Chapter 23

Kisar huffed as she tried to contact Cody for the hundredth time. The Marshal Commander seemed to be committed to avoiding her and Kisar was starting to become discouraged.

"Don't give up now you pessimistic furball." Kisar hissed to herself. She would find a way. Maybe she would have to go back to her old methods of getting Cody's attention if the current ones didn't work.

Kisar knew that she would have to do what she did best to get the Marshal Commander's attention-doing something stupid. The only time Cody ever paid attention to her before they became close was when she did something stupid and he took it upon himself to "correct" her. If she couldn't draw him out the civil way, she'd draw him out in her own uncouth way.

The Padawan marched out of the Jedi Temple with purposeful steps. Kisar grinned when the night skyline of Coruscant came into view. She missed this. Cody had prevented her from going out on the town most of the time but now he seemed to not give a kark anymore. 

Kisar narrowed her eyes in indignation at the thought. No matter. She would make Cody care again. 

With that new burst of motivation, Kisar walked deeper into the trenches of the criminal underbelly of Coruscant.

***

Cody sighed as he continuously beat the punching bag in front of him. Every time his blows met the equipment, he imagined them hurting those bounty hunters instead. He also put all of his frustrations and fears into his attacks as he practiced.

"You know," the voice of a brother Cody knew well teased, "If you really needed to punch something maybe you should go after something that can return the favor. It's only fair."

"Not in the mood, Boil." He grunted out and wasn't the least bit surprised to see Waxer right next to the trooper when he turned around.

Waxer had his hands behind his head in nonchalance as he approached his Commander, "You haven't been in the mood for anything except grouching and growling ever since you came back with Kisar."

The bag behind him stilled after Cody paused to consider his subordinate's words. He hadn't really thought about how his own brothers would react to his little existential crisis. "I've been a little off lately but I'll be fine, brother."

"Fine? Is that how you CC's describe terrible?" Waxer snorted.

Cody narrowed his eyes at that comment, "Know your place, _trooper_."

It was Boil who responded to Cody's threat, "You've been a pain in the ass ever since you came back. This _will_ affect our battalion eventually if you don't get your act together and talk to the pipsqueak."

Cody growled at the two troopers as they delivered brutally truthful comments. He didn't want to hear them even if they were right. But, as their Commander, he knew he had to right himself for the sake of his men.

"I choked Boba Fett half to death. I didn't even hesitate when he refused to give up Kisar's location." He admitted as he stepped away from the punching bag and made his way to the showers. 

Twin intakes of breath came from the two brothers in reaction to his grim confession. As clones, they weren't exactly taught what was right or wrong, they were merely taught to follow orders. The one thing most clones thought was a moral rule was that children-in their case, cadets-were never to be harmed by a full-grown brother. Cadets were their future and if an adult clone hurt a younger brother, he hurt his future.

Waxer eventually asked him hesitantly if he was sorry for what he did and if that was why he was so upset.

Cody chuckled bitterly as he looked at the bald clone with a dark expression, "Here's the thing, Waxer, I don't even regret it that much. Sure, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to choke Fett but he was in the way between me and Kisar. At the end of the day it was the life of the kid I know versus the life of the kid who betrayed the Republic and hurt the kid I know."

"So it's not why you're upset?" 

"No." Cody shook his head in response, "That's not it. It's how far I was willing to go for the kid that has got me in a funk. I broke regs and went AWOL for her."

The Marshal Commander sighed as he scrubbed his sweaty face with his hands. He was as by the book and loyal as clones come, but for some reason, once Kisar was in danger, he threw all of his principles away and went after her. It terrified him.

"Cody, with all due respect, you're as much of an idiot as the kid is." Boil, the ever blunt brother, didn't hold back on his assessment of the situation. "We may be clones, but we're still men. You didn't go AWOL for just anyone, you went AWOL for your family."

Both Waxer and Boil placed their hands on his shoulders and smiled in comfort. Waxer shook his shoulder a bit before murmuring, "Clean yourself up and go to our Jedi to make things right."

***

Kisar learned a few things in her time as a non-Jedi. She learned that most people didn't have a moral system as strict as the Jedi and also that good food was a blessing that should never be turned down. That was why she was diverted by the smell of some heavenly baked goods on her way to the casino district.

The Cathar cub did not even hesitate to start walking to the source of that smell. Not even the polluted smell of Coruscant's lower levels could drown out the entrancing aroma. 

Once Kisar was close enough to see the bakery that produced the smell, she noticed that there were some obvious low-lifes headed into the shop. Great, someone else beat her to the baked goods and they didn't look like the sharing type. 

She crept closer to the building and bore her teeth in a snarl once she heard raised voices from inside. Someone was angry and it sounded like someone was going to get hurt soon.

An accented male voice yelled in fury, "You think you can avoid giving us your payment? Didn't I tell you that if you didn't pay the protection money, bad things would happen to the shop and to _you?_ "

A female voice responded in a panicked tone, "Please, Shan! I'll get you the money! It's just gonna take a while because of how hard things have been with the war going on."

Kisar continued to sneak closer until she could make out three thugs and a short woman who was protectively placing herself in front of the register and desk where the credits were held. 

One of the men, a Bothan, leaned in to her and growled menacingly, "Not good enough, Keeja."

Kisar answered from behind them with her own growl, "You know, I've heard the costumer is always right, but this seems like a stretch even to me."

Four heads swiveled to Kisar in bewilderment as the Padawan confidently strode into the bakery. 

The human man with the accent, Shan, addressed her first, "Who the kriff are you?"

"Your worst nightmare." Kisar smirked and made sure to reveal all of her sharp teeth.

The thugs looked at each other for a moment before mockingly cackling.

"Nice try, kid. Get lost." Shan cooed condescendingly as he pointed to the doorway.

Kisar shrugged nonchalantly, "You sure you want to force my hand here? I just got out of the Halls of Healing and I'm trying not to overexert myself but if you boys keep deciding to remain sentient sludge, I'll have no choice but to _make_ you leave."

The third man, a Zeltron, shook his head and grinned maliciously, "Girlie, you just lost your chance to walk out of here unharmed."

"That's funny, I was about to say the same thing to you." Kisar mischievously shot back with the utmost confidence as she slowly drew her lightsaber for the first time in a fight for the low-lifes to gawk at. And gawk at it they did. 

"Karking Corellian hells, Shan! That little brat's a mini-Jedi!" The Bothan shrieked as he backed away from Kisar and the woman who he had previously threatened.

Shan no longer looked smug as his wide eyes took in the wicked looking beskar hilt and the two blue blades protruding from each end. He shook himself to erase his unease and hissed to the two men who apparently were his minions. 

"Don't just stand there! Get her!"

The two thugs charged at Kisar and the Cathar Padawan actually giggled like the little girl she was as she danced around them with her new weapon. She made sure not to deal any killing blows but still delivered a few shallow yet painful slashes to the two criminals as they howled in pain and shock. They were defeated under a standard minute and their leader, Shan, was left seething in furious humiliation.

Kisar cracked her neck while staring down the human male with a savage grin, "You want to join your friends here or would you like to be smart and leave peacefully?"

Shan glared at her with pure hatred in his eyes before reluctantly walking out the door with his two compatriots limping behind him whining and moaning in discomfort. 

She blew out a breath and sat down on one of the nearby chairs. Kisar smiled warmly and soothingly at the woman who probably owned the bakery. "It's okay, you're safe now."

The owner, to her credit, didn't seem nearly as panicked as Kisar originally thought she was. The woman collapsed on the chair right next to Kisar and looked more tired than anything as she leaned her head down on the table.

"Thanks, uhhh...I don't know what to call you as a Jedi?" The owner sheepishly acknowledged as she blushed bright red in an obvious manner with her pale skin. 

"You can call me Kisar. What's your name?" 

"Keeja Virtus. I'm the owner of this fine bakery." The woman, Keeja, hummed in thought for a moment. "Say....you helped me today so how about I offer you some treats on the house?"

Kisar smiled at Keeja in gratitude, "I tracked the wonderful smell of this place for blocks so I would love some."

Keeja chuckled and patted Kisar on the head affectionately before moving herself to the back of the building where the building was. Kisar followed after her and contented herself with watching the soothing scene of someone making actual baked goods for her. It was a piece of domesticity that Kisar never expected to feel again after departing from Nar Shaddaa. 

After a few minutes, Kisar heard her comlink beep to show someone was trying to contact her, without looking, she answered the call and had to physically restrain herself from gasping when Cody's hesitant voice was heard.

"Kid...we need to talk. Where are you?"

"I'm at a bakery in the lower levels that's a straight shot down basically from the Temple. I'll send you the exact location." The Cathar cub excitedly responded and felt a weight lifted off her shoulders after the Commander agreed and said he would meet her there soon.

"Who was that, Kisar?" Keeja asked while she was placing some pastries in the oven. 

Kisar had an ear-splitting grin that she couldn't quite get rid of as she answered, "That's Cody. He's a clone Commander and someone who I've looked up to as a mentor for a while now."

Keeja looked intrigued, "I've seen clone troopers from afar but I've never met one." She paused in thought as she looked at the amount of pastries she just set in the oven. "I think I'll make a few more for him too then."

Kisar hurriedly tried to convince Keeja that she didn't need to give away so much free food but the baker wasn't having it and even pointed a maternally authoritative finger at the Cathar cub and told her that it was her job as a baker to make people happy. 

The Padawan wisely quieted down and returned to watching Keeja dance across the bakery with the delight of someone who loved her job.

Eventually Keeja and Kisar began to get to know each other by asking personal questions as they waited for Cody. 

Kisar found out that Keeja was a Corellian woman who managed to escape a life of crime like many other inhabitants of the crime-ridden areas she grew up in by pursuing her love of culinary arts. Keeja made her way to Coruscant with the dream of serving the richest of the rich in the center of the galaxy but instead came right as the war started and instead was forced into the lower levels with an element of crime reminiscent of her life on Corellia. She had been harassed by several local gangs for protection money and lived constantly on edge because of it.

Kisar in return told Keeja about her life as someone who survived multiple encounters with superstitious and vengeful Mandalorians because she was a Cathar Jedi. She told the baker about her life on Nar Shaddaa and having to adapt to a lawless society and then being suddenly brought back into the strict Jedi Order in the middle of a war. 

Keeja lended a sympathetic ear as Kisar lamented about getting used to life in the military as well but finding a much needed mentor in Cody and befriending the clones in her battalion. The woman even nodded with grim understanding when Kisar went so far as to admit that she was molested by Prince Merrik.

"Does anyone else know of this, Kisar?" The woman questioned softly. 

"Yeah, Cody obviously knows and so does my Master and some Jedi Healers who specialize in trauma. Waxer and Boil also eventually found out about what happened after they caught me screaming in my sleep for Prince Merrik to stop touching me. And now I guess you do. I don't know why I told you all that, but you just seem like a good person and my instincts are almost never wrong on that kind of stuff."

Keeja shook her head in exasperation but there was no bite in her words, "You have to be careful about talking about that kind of stuff, but trust me, I understand what you went through and I'm honored to help you heal by talking about it."

"You really are a good person, Keeja Virtus." Kisar wondered aloud in awe.

The woman blushed crimson at her observation and opened her mouth to no doubt disagree but the sound of someone entering the bakery stopped Keeja from her self-doubting answer.

Kisar brightened at the sight of Cody awkwardly walking towards her. He obviously was out of his element and stuck out in the homely bakery with his armor and weaponry. The clone lifted his hands to slide off his helmet and Kisar swore she heard Keeja choke on air for some reason behind her. 

The previously carefully cool expression on the Commander's face went slack-jawed as he turned his gaze from Kisar to Keeja at the sound of her gasp. His gaze drank in the sight of the short baker and Kisar saw a blush appear that even his tan skin couldn't completely hide.

The cub was confused by the actions of the two adults and raised her eyebrows while she got Cody's attention, "Uhhh.....Cody? You okay?"

"...Y-yeah..." The clone stuttered and Kisar felt her eyebrows go further up to her hairline. Cody didn't stutter. He was always in control and yet Keeja had broken that control for some reason. 

Kisar turned to Keeja to see if the woman had spontaneously grown a second head or something. After seeing nothing that Kisar thought would be shocking enough to make Cody lose his usual eloquence, she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. " _Okay_ , whatever you say, Cody. So, did you want to have the talk here or in the barracks?"

"Oh, Commander. I insist you stay here! I have some pastries in the oven that aren't done yet that I was going to give you and Kisar. I can give you both privacy if you'd like but I must again insist that you stay until the pastries are done." Keeja fussed as she gestured to the chairs for Kisar and Cody to sit down at for their much needed conversation.

The two Commanders shuffled uncomfortably to sit from across from each other and sat in silence for a few minutes until Cody sighed and began to confess to Kisar that he avoided her because of his own intense emotions and fears. He told her about him going AWOL and basically forcing the Antarian Rangers to take him with them on their mission to rescue her. 

Cody then apparently used drastic measures to find out where Kisar was and then furiously gunned down Bossk and kept a paranoid eye on Kisar's injured form for the rest of the trip back to Coruscant. The fact that Cody was willing to go so far for anyone and go against everything he was trained to do scared him. 

Kisar understood why he was avoiding her. He was afraid of the intense feelings that their bond brought into his life. He broke the rules for Kisar, something he would have never done for anyone except maybe Rex prior to meeting her. 

"Cody...I feel the same fears at times. As a Jedi, I'm not allowed to think of you the way I do." Kisar admitted in turn. 

Cody lifted his lowered shameful gaze to her in puzzlement, "And how do you think of me?"

"I may have lost a father because of my Force-sensitivity as a Cathar but I think I gained another because of my Force-sensitivity and career as a Jedi." Kisar whispered in confession as she glanced around as if expecting a reproachful Jedi Council to jump out of nowhere and eject her from the Jedi Order.

Cody inhaled in shock and choked on a breath. Kisar sank into her chair in mortification as she began to think that her mentor didn't think of her in remotely the same way. After collecting himself, the intimidating clone Commander reached across the table and grabbed Kisar's hands and cupped them in his bigger palms. 

"For both of our sakes, kid, I wouldn't put a label on it that way but know that....I think of you in a similar way. I didn't realize it until Rex talked some sense into me while you were still in the hands of those bounty hunter scum." Cody spoke in the gentlest tone Kisar had ever heard him use. Kriff, it was probably the gentlest Cody had been in his entire life.

The Cathar cub hiccuped a bit and realized she was actually crying in reaction to her mentor's reciprocated feelings. She sniffled a bit and gave a watery smile to him to show she understood. 

Their familial moment was interrupted by the ding of the oven as Keeja began to bring the sheet of heavenly smelling treats out onto the counter and began to place them in a container for the two Commanders to take with them. She left two pastries out for them to try before they left.

Keeja smiled warmly and beckoned them to come to the counter and try the baked goods, "Come on then, I have to make sure they're good before I give them to you."

Kisar bit into the pastry closest to her and melted in joy as the taste of the fresh treat hit her tongue in a welcome burst of sweet flavor. She turned to Cody and encouraged him to try it. 

The Marshal Commander looked nervous as he slowly lifted the treat to his mouth and took a tentative bite. He surprised both Kisar and Keeja when he closed his eyes and let out a contented hum. Keeja was blushing for some reason again and was watching Cody's reaction in what looked like awe. 

Keeja was staring at Cody with a hungry expression and he returned that same look once he opened his eyes from the bliss he felt after eating the treat. They probably didn't register that they were being weird. Kisar chuckled, they were acting like adult Cathar when they wanted to mate. 

Wait.

The Cathar cub was gawking as the realization of why the two adults were acting that way came upon her. 

_Kriff._

Cody had a crush. 

Cody had a crush who liked him back.

And who made amazing food!

She opened her mouth to make that very observation to tease them both but Cody's never failing ability to sense when Kisar was about to be an idiot kicked in and the clone slapped his hand over her mouth and announced that they needed to go.

Kisar whined under his palm but couldn't break out of his grip as she was dragged out the door. Cody had almost made it out of the bakery but the sound of Keeja calling for him to stop halted his departure, "Commander! You forgot your gift."

The baker gently passed the container to Cody and Kisar rolled her eyes when the two humans became flustered when their fingers touched. 

"Thank you, Miss..?" 

"Virtus, but you can call me Keeja." 

Cody mouthed the cute baker's name before nodding and hastily saying goodbye while dragging a squirming Kisar with him. The sound of Keeja's giggles at the sight of the two Commanders struggling against each other followed them down the block.

Cody had begun to rant to Kisar about how stupid she had been to go down into Coruscant's underworld yet again. The Cathar Padawan managed to get her mouth free after nipping his hand and began to complain that Cody never allowed her to have fun so therefore he forced her hand to do illegal things. 

That got her a stern glare from the Marshal Commander and Kisar shrank back a little bit in regret. What succeeded her comment was a dressing down so intense and lengthy that pedestrians that passed them on the street winced in sympathy. It was a sure sign of the two reconciling their bond. 

And for the first time since the Clone Wars began on Geonosis, the Force felt momentarily at peace. 


End file.
